Foreign Relations of the United States, 1958–1960, United Nations and General International Matters, Volume II

306. Memorandum From the Head of the Delegation to the Conference on Antarctica (Phleger) to the Secretary of State¹

Washington, November 6, 1959.

The Heads of Delegations met November 6 from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. The Chilean representative reported that its attitude that the treaty should be subject to termination after a stated number of years by any party was unchanged, but that it had communicated with its home Government requesting further instructions in the light of the attitude of the other delegates favoring indefinite duration.

The Soviet delegate stated that he had received no instructions on the subject and therefore was unable to continue further discussion at this time of the item on relationship with third parties.

The Secretary General reported that he expected to have a working paper showing the present condition of draft articles and proposals ready for distribution before the end of the afternoon.

Article VII was then taken up and the Soviet Union and Chile reiterated that they could not agree to a compulsory reference to the ICJ. Thereupon the UK proposed that the draft Article VII provide that reference to the ICJ had to be by agreement by the parties to the dispute but that failure to reach agreement on reference to the ICJ did not absolve the parties from the responsibility of continuing to resolve it by other peaceful means. This was submitted to the Drafting Committee to redraft.

The question of interim arrangements was then discussed. The Australian and Chilean draft proposals were considered and the committee then resolved tentatively that the matter might be covered by a declaration in the final act of the conference. It was suggested that a formulation incorporating the matters discussed should be presented for further consideration.

Discussion then started on the article dealing with detonations of nuclear devices of a nonmilitary nature. Australia suggested certain changes. The U.S. representative stated that it seemed agreed that any such detonation should be confined to scientific investigation of Antarctica and its development. The UK then produced a draft which did not use the term “detonations” or “explosions.” After discussion it was decided that an attempt should be made to combine the Australian and British drafts and add a provision that the use of fissionable material should be limited to scientific investigation of Antarctica and its development. The delegations were to consult their scientific advisers on this matter before the afternoon meeting.

It was agreed that an afternoon meeting of Heads of Delegations would be held at 3:00 p.m. and a Committee of the Whole meeting at 5:00 p.m. under the chairmanship of Argentina.

The Committee of the Whole met at 5:00 p.m. under the chairmanship of Argentina.

The Secretary General read the following summary statement of the preliminary agreements reached at the informal meetings of Heads of Delegations during the last three days (decisions taken on the morning of November 4 and on November 5 are incorporated in the memoranda reports of the same dates²):

November 4 (P.M.)

• “1. The meeting considered the revised report of the Drafting Subcommittee regarding the Article on Jurisdiction (COM. W/DSC/1³) and, with amendments suggested by France and Australia, approved the text thereof and remitted it to the Drafting Subcommittee or a final report.
• “2. In connection with Article II the draft informally presented by the South African Representative and amended by the USSR on October 30, was transmitted to the Drafting Subcommittee to serve as the basis for the first paragraph of a redrafted Article II or, alternatively, as a separate article. Argentina reserved its position on Article II.”

November 6 (A.M.)

“1. The United Kingdom compromise proposal on Article VII was accepted, as amended, and referred to the Drafting Subcommittee for final report. In this connection it was suggested that the opening sentence might be redrafted along the lines ‘any dispute which may arise, etc.’”

The Chairman of the Conference, Ambassador Phleger, stated that considerable progress had been made in the meetings of the Heads of Delegations during the last few days, but that agreement had not yet been reached on the following three items: (1) accession and the relationship of the treaty to third parties; (2) use of fissionable material; and (3) an article on the revision of the treaty. He said the Heads of Delegations would meet again Monday morning to consider these three items, and the Committee of the Whole would meet Monday afternoon to consider an up-to-date revision of the working paper draft of the treaty which was being prepared by the Secretary General.

Regret was expressed by both the Chairman and Ambassador Phleger over the departure tomorrow of Foreign Minister Casey of Australia, who stated that he was leaving Washington with both the hope and expectation that a worthwhile treaty would emerge from the Conference.

For the U.S. Representative:

Wayne W. Fisher
Secretary

1. Source: Department of State, Central Files, 399.829/11–659. Confidential. Drafted by Phleger and Fisher.
2. An extract from the memorandum on the November 4 meeting is supra; a copy of the memorandum on the November 5 meeting is in Department of State, Central Files, 399.829/11–559.
3. Not found.