812.24/2328
The Ambassador in Mexico (Messersmith) to the Secretary of State
[Received May 31.]
Sir: I have the honor to refer to this Embassy’s Despatch No. 9713, dated May 3, 1943,92 transmitting to the Department a memorandum concerning a visit of the Economic Counselor of this Embassy to the Under Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Relations regarding the proposed decentralization of Export Control.93
The Ministry of National Economy has named Ingeniero Gonzalo A. y Aceves as head of a unit which will be responsible for obtaining requirements information needed to process WT Inquiries. Ing. Aceves has stated to this Embassy that his organization is now ready to undertake this work. In order that the responsibility may be assumed gradually, he has asked that for the time being only an occasional WT Inquiry be referred to him for investigation and that on those not so referred the Embassy continue its usual investigation.
In accordance with this suggestion WT Inquiry No. 190, which was transmitted to this Embassy by the Department’s Instruction No. 3294, dated May 21, 1943,92 has been referred to Ing. Aceves with the understanding that the requirements information needed by the Embassy will be submitted to it by him within ten days from the date on which delivery of the inquiry was made. It is requested that export licenses be refused for all orders included in WT Inquiry No. 190 regarding which a report has not been received by the Department at the expiration of thirty days from the date of the Department’s Instruction No. 3294. From time to time, as additional WT Inquiries are referred to Ing. Aceves their numbers will be transmitted to the Department. It is requested that with respect to these the same procedure be followed, that is to say, that export licenses be automatically rejected for all orders regarding which no report is received on or before the expiration of thirty days from the date of the instruction, transmitting the WT Inquiry to this Embassy. The necessity for obtaining the information within a period of time which will enable the Embassy to submit its report before the expiration of the stipulated term has been explained to Ing. Aceves.
It will be appreciated if the Board of Economic Warfare will take such precautions as are necessary to insure that with respect to WT [Page 250] Inquiries which are not referred to Ing. Aceves, in accordance with the procedure outlined in the preceding paragraph, that is to say, those on which the Embassy obtains requirements information export licenses are not automatically rejected where the necessary report is not received by the Department within thirty days from the date of the instruction transmitting the inquiry to this Embassy. With regard to these, it is requested that the present procedure of allowing additional time be continued.
It should also be noted that the arrangement made with Ing. Aceves relates only to the requirements information as distinguished from political information regarding the consignees named in the WT Inquiry mentioned. The Embassy will continue to make its own investigations of political characteristics of consignees and of such other matters as may require special study.
Any further developments regarding this procedure will be made the subject of a subsequent despatch.
Respectfully yours,
Commercial Attaché
- Not printed.↩
- This memorandum indicated that in their conversations in Washington, Lockett and Cunningham found that in response to the Mexican demand to handle the acquiring of information, the Board of Economic Warfare was inclined to eliminate Mexico from the decentralized scheme of export control but was finally-persuaded to accept from the Embassy data obtained from Mexican governmental agencies (812.24/2190).↩
- Not printed.↩