312. Letter From Secretary of Commerce Baldrige to Secretary of State Shultz1
Under the Packwood-Magnuson Amendment to the Magnuson Fishery Conservation and Management Act, 16 U.S.C. 1821 (1983 Supp.), and the Pelly Amendment to the Fishermen’s Protective Act of 1967, 22 U.S.C. §1978 (1983 Supp.), I have certified to the President that nationals of the Soviet Union are conducting whaling operations that diminish the effectiveness of the International Whaling Commission’s (IWC) conservation program.
Upon certification under the Packwood-Magnuson Amendment, the Secretary of State, must in consultation with the Secretary of Commerce, reduce allocations to the certified country by not less than 50 percent. This reduction applies to any unharvested allocations and to all allocations to be made within 365 days from the date of certification, until decertification may be warranted. Certification may be terminated and allocations restored once the condition has been corrected. No allocations may be made after the 365-day period if the condition that prompted certification is not corrected.
The Pelly Amendment provides that upon receipt of such certification the President may direct the Secretary of Treasury to prohibit the importation into the United States of some or all fish products from this country. The Department of Commerce is developing trade recommendations on fish import prohibitions to be forwarded to the President. The Pelly Amendment also provides that, within 60 days following the receipt of such certification the President must notify the Congress of any action he takes regarding the certification, and must inform the Congress of the reasons for any such action that falls short of prohibiting the importation of all fish products from this country.
As required by the Packwood-Magnuson Amendment, I will be providing you my recommendations for reduction of fishery allocations to the Soviet Union.2 I recommend that the Department of State promptly notify the Government of the Soviet Union of the certification.3 In addition, I will suggest to the Soviet Minister of Foreign Trade [Page 875] that we could discuss the certification of Soviet whaling at the meeting of the joint U.S.–U.S.S.R. Commercial Commission May 20–21 in Moscow, if he believes it would be useful.4
Sincerely,
- Source: Department of State, Chronological Files, 1984–1985, Lot 86D362, April #1 1985 Completed Items. No classification marking.↩
- Not found.↩
- In telegram 102729 to Moscow, April 5, the Department informed the Embassy of the Soviet whaling certification and provided the Embassy with talking points. (Department of State, Central Foreign Policy File, D850235–0575) In telegram 4346 from Moscow, April 5, the Embassy reported on conveying the news to the Soviets. (Department of State, Central Foreign Policy File, D850236–0553)↩
- In telegram 6772 from Moscow, May 22, the Embassy provided a summary of the negotiations at the Commercial Commission that did not include a discussion regarding whaling. (Department of State, Central Foreign Policy File, D850360–0467)↩