Office of the Historian

196. Telegram From the Mission to the United Nations to the Department of State1

New York, November 13, 1972, 2300Z.

4599. Dept pass action priority to all diplomatic posts. Subj: Reduction in U.S. Assessment.

1.
USUN formally submitted U.S. draft resolution on subject to UN Sect this morning in preparation for discussion in UNGA Fifth Committee later this week. Text will be distributed as UN document within next day or two and thus available to all delegations.
2.
If Department concurs, we believe posts may find it useful to provide texts to governments to which accredited as part of continuing effort in capitals to obtain support for U.S. proposal.
3.
Text of draft resolution which will be considered under Agenda Item 77 on scale of assessments to the UN follows.
[Page 360]

“The General Assembly,

Recalling its resolutions 14 (I) of 13 February 1946, 238 (III) of 18 November 1948, 665 (VII) of 5 December 1952, and 1137 (XII) of 14 October 1957, regarding the apportionment of the expenses of the United Nations among its members and the fixing of the maximum contribution of any one member state,

Affirming that the capacity of member states to contribute towards the payment of the ordinary expenses of the United Nations is a fundamental criterion on which scales of assessment are based,

Noting that, when it was decided by the General Assembly in 1957 that, in principle, the maximum contribution of any one member state to the ordinary expenses of the United Nations should not exceed 30 per cent of the total, the United Nations consisted of eighty-two member states,

Noting further that since the General Assembly decision of 1957, fifty states have been admitted to membership in the United Nations,

Recalling that since the General Assembly decision of 1957 there has been a reduction in the percentage contribution of the state paying the maximum contribution from 33.33 per cent to 31.52 per cent,

Decides that:

1.
As a matter of principle, the maximum contribution of any one member state to the ordinary expenses of the United Nations shall not exceed 25 per cent of the total;
2.
In preparing scales of assessment for future years, the Committee on Contributions shall implement operative paragraph 1 as soon as practicable so as to reduce to 25 per cent the percentage contribution of the member state paying the maximum contribution, utilizing for this purpose to the extent necessary;
(A)
The percentage contributions of any newly admitted member states immediately upon their admission, and
(B)
The normal triennial increase in the percentage contributions of member states resulting from increases in their national incomes;
3.
Notwithstanding operative paragraph 2 above, the percentage contribution of member states shall not, in any case, be increased as a consequence of the present resolution.”

Bush
  1. Source: National Archives, RG 59, Central Files 1970–73, UN 10–4. Limited Official Use.↩