310. Memorandum From the Head of the Delegation to the Conference on Antarctica (Phleger) to the Secretary of State1
At the Heads of Delegations meeting on the morning of November 12, the following action was taken:
- (1)
- The revised Final Act was agreed upon.
- (2)
- It was agreed that the place of initial meeting of the Consultative Committee under Article VIII would be Canberra.
- (3)
- It was agreed that Articles IX, X, and the Articles on revision and the Final Act would come before the Committee of the Whole this afternoon. The Soviet delegation stated that it was not prepared to discuss the jurisdiction Article at this time; that it withdrew its reservation to Article IX and would have an amendment to propose to Article X.
There was then a discussion on the Article on fissionable material, there being two proposals before the Committee:
- (1)
- The Australian proposal which New Zealand, South Africa, Norway, France, the UK and the US were willing to accept. Chile and Argentina said they could not accept Articles II and III unless a new Article banning nuclear explosions without prior consent of all was added.
- (2)
- Soviet Russia said that it would not accept the Australian proposal but put forward its own proposal for an absolute ban on all nuclear explosions, stating, however, that it was willing to consider an amendment which would permit such explosions after prior unanimous consent.
It was agreed that there were now the following proposals; the Australian proposal and the Argentine-Chilean proposal for an absolute ban except with unanimous consent, and a Soviet proposal for an absolute ban.
The group adjourned until 3 o’clock, November 13, for further discussion on the remaining Articles; the Soviet representative and the Argentine representative saying that they expected to have instructions at that time on the remaining Articles.
The Committee of the Whole met at 3:00 P.M. under the Chairmanship of Belgium. The Secretary General read the following summary of the preliminary agreements reached at the meetings of Heads of Delegations on November 9, 10 and 11:
November 9
“The draft of the proposed Article on revision which was developed during the course of the discussions was transmitted to the Drafting Subcommittee for redrafting and return to the Heads of Delegations for reconsideration.”
(Record of agreements reached on the morning of November 10 are incorporated in the memorandum report of the same date.)2
November 10 (P.M.)
- “1. The draft Article on Revision was agreed in substance. The Drafting Subcommittee was requested to redraft the article so as to express the same substance, but in a simplified formulation, if possible. In paragraph 1, the period of two years should be referred to an appropriate starting date. The draft is to be returned to the Heads of Delegations for agreement prior to reporting it to the Committee of the Whole.
- “2. The Report of the Drafting Subcommittee on Article IX (COM.W/DSC/11)3 was remitted to the Subcommittee with minor changes, which should be reflected in a revised report.
- “3. Article X was agreed and sent to the Drafting Subcommittee for issuance of its report to the Committee of the Whole (COM. W/DSC/12).”3
November 11
- “1. The draft of the Final Act was agreed with minor modifications and was sent to the Drafting Subcommittee for report to the Committee of the Whole.
- “2. The draft Article on Jurisdiction was agreed with modifications and was sent to the Drafting Subcommittee for consideration and report to the Committee of the Whole.
- “3. The draft Article on Revision was agreed and remitted to the Drafting Subcommittee for report to the Committee of the Whole.”
The Committee agreed to the following version of Article IX:
“Each of the High Contracting Parties undertakes to exert appropriate efforts, consistent with the Charter of the United Nations, to the end that no one engages in any activity in Antarctica contrary to the principles or purposes of the Treaty.”
At the request of the Soviet Union discussion of Article X (Accession) was postponed, pending submission of a Soviet amendment.
In a discussion of the Article on revision, Chile, supported by Argentina, favored reducing the period of duration after which any party could initiate action to revise the treaty from 40 to 30 years. A U.S. suggestion that the Committee approve the draft of this Article, subject to the period of duration being decided later, was adopted.
Subject to reservations on the first paragraph, and a suggestion for a minor change in wording which was referred to the Style Committee, the provision on the Final Act was approved by the Committee.
A suggestion by the U.S. that Canberra be the site of the first meeting provided for in paragraph 1 of Article VIII was unanimously adopted.
The Chairman announced that the Secretary General was preparing an up-to-date working paper draft of the treaty which should be ready tomorrow.
It was agreed that the Heads of Delegations would meet again tomorrow at 3:00 P.M.
For the U.S. Representative:
Secretary