Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 61 Part 4.djvu/349

 61 STAT.] BELGIUMI-RECIPROCAL TRADE-OCT. 30, 1947 The Acting Chairman of the Belgo-Luxembourg Delegation to the Acting Chairmanof the United States Delegation DELEGATION BELGO-LUXEMBOURGEOISE A LA COMMISSION PREPARATOIRE DE LA CONFtREENCE INTERNATIONALE DU COMMERCE ET DE L'EMPLOI dS/EM GENEVA, October 30th, 1947. DEAR MR. BROWN, I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your letter dated Octobre 30, 1947, in which you wrote: "A point of legal detail has been brought to my attention in connection with the Agreement Supplementary to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade which we propose to sign on behalf of our two Governments on October 30 making the Re- ciprocal Trade Agreement of 1935 between the United States and the Belgo-Luxembourg Economic Union inoperative so long as both the United States and the Belgo-Luxembourg Economic Union are parties to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade. "As you know, the Agreement entered into between the United States and the Belgo-Luxembourg Economic Union in 1935 pro- vides that it may be terminated by either party after three years on six month's notice. The inclusion of such a provision in all our trade agreements is required by the Trade Agreements Act. Our lawyers have suggested that the very general terms of the proposed Supplementary Agreement might possibly be interpreted as making it impossible for either party to the 1935 Agreement to exercise this right of termination. "It is, of course, improbable that either of our Governments would wish to exercise this right of termination, but under our law we must, nevertheless, retain it in force. To suggest a formal amendment to the proposed Supplementary Agreement expressly excepting the termination provision of the 1935 Agreement at this late date would cause considerable inconvenience and would give greater emphasis to this point than it deserves. I am therefore writing to make it clear that we would be signing the Supplementary Agreement with the understanding that its general language would not prevent notice of termination of the 1935 Agreement given by either party while we were both parties to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade from effecting termination of the 1935 Agreement in six months." I can give you the assurance that my Government has the same understanding about this matter. Sincerely yours, . D , D MB. WINTHROP G. BBOWN, The Delegation of United State Palais des Nations, 0A. 9o7-35- - -W .1W--28 49 Stat. 3680. 48 Stat. 943. 19U. .C.§§1351- 1354. 61 Stat, Pts. Sand6. 3693 P.A. FORTHOMM Acting Chairman.

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