42. Discussion Paper Prepared for a Meeting of the Delegation to the Eleventh Session of the General Assembly1
UN SCALE OF ASSESSMENTS
Question
The question presented is how the percentage contributions (a total of 6.36 per cent) to the United Nations budget of the sixteen new members admitted to the United Nations last year should be distributed among the sixty “old” members.
[Page 137]Background
- 1.
- Ever since the United Nations Preparatory Commission, the United Nations has accepted the principle that assessments should be based broadly upon capacity to pay. The United States has always objected to a strict application of this principle to its assessment.
- 2.
- On the basis of this principle it was first proposed that the United States pay 49.89 per cent of the budget. However, the initial assessment approved by the Assembly in 1946 was 39.89 per cent, and it remained at that level until 1950.
- 3.
- In 1952 the Assembly accepted the principle that the contribution of the highest contributor should not exceed 33.33 per cent after January 1, 1954. Since that date the United States assessment percentage has remained at 33.33 per cent.
- 4.
- The 1955 General Assembly decided that the scale of assessments (including the United States at 33.33 per cent) should remain fixed for three years, namely, 1956, 1957, and 1958. This scale is indicated in the first column of Annex A.
- 5.
- The Contributions Committee of the Assembly—an expert committee—met this spring to fix the contributions of the sixteen new members who were admitted after the scale of assessments was fixed at the last General Assembly. This Committee not only fixed the percentage for the new members but also recommended that the percentage assessment of the new members totalling 6.36 per cent be consolidated into the scale by reducing percentage shares of all “old” members except (a) the United States and (b) about twenty countries which pay an assessment of less than .08 per cent.
- 6.
- The Contributions Committee recommended that the new scale which is indicated in the second column of Annex A be made retroactive to 1956 and also be applied in 1957 and 1958.
- 7.
- The new scale, while affording no relief to the United States, gives to the Soviet Union a percentage reduction of 1.54 per cent which will result in a saving to it of about $750,000.
Attitude of Other Governments
An intensive canvass of the situation both by our embassies in all world capitals and discussions with delegations in New York indicate that a clear majority of delegations generally support the report of the Contributions Committee. This is not surprising since most countries will receive a reduction in their contributions if the new scale recommended by the Committee is adopted. Further, almost all maintain, on the basis of the capacity-to-pay principle, that the United States is under-assessed.
The attitude of other delegations can be expected to harden on this subject when they recognize the magnitude of the cost involved in financing the United Nations Emergency Forces and that these costs will be assessed on the basis of the normal scale of assessments. They undoubtedly will not view kindly a United States effort [Page 138] to reduce its percentage assessment at a time when large new costs are being incurred.
United States Proposal
To meet the situation, we propose in the Fifth Committee to take the position that, although we disapprove the report of the Contributions Committee, the United States will, subject to Congressional approval of the necessary appropriation for its contribution, accept the scale recommended by the Committee for the year 1957 provided:
- 1.
- That the scale is not made retroactive to 1956. This means that new members’ contributions toward 1956 expenses will be treated as miscellaneous income, and this will save us about $1 million. It will, of course, mean that other members will receive a reduced credit.
- 2.
- That it is agreed that the next session of the General Assembly will review all the principles affecting the scale of assessments and, in particular, the arbitrary assessment of the highest contributor. We will state that, at the next session, we will press for a reduction of our contribution to 30 per cent.
Non-Financial Factors to be Considered
- 1.
- It should be recognized that the payment by the United States of a large percentage of the United Nations budget adds to its influence in the organization. During the past year both the Syrian and Indian Delegations have mentioned to us the possibility of reducing the United States assessment to 25 per cent in the near future, and these two delegations normally are interested in reducing United States influence in the United Nations.
- 2.
- The allocation of professional posts in the United Nations Secretariat among nationals of members is based roughly upon the percentage contribution of the member. Thus, if we reduce our percentage contribution, we automatically will reduce, over a period of time, the percentage of the United States nationals in professional posts.
- Source: Department of State, IO Files: Lot 71 D 440, Folder 3760. Official Use Only. No drafting information is given on the source text. However, it is evident that the paper was based on the decisions reached at the Washington meeting of October 30, see Document 38.↩