353. Memorandum From the Executive Secretary of the Department of State (Platt) to the President’s Assistant for National Security Affairs (Poindexter)1

SUBJECT

  • Ratification of the Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer

Attached for signature by the President is the instrument of ratification, in duplicate, of the Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer, done at Vienna on March 22, 1985.2

The Senate gave its advice and consent to ratification on July 24, 1986.

The Convention, which was negotiated and adopted under the auspices of the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), provides a foundation for global multilateral undertakings to protect the environment and public health from the potential adverse effects of depletion of stratospheric ozone. The Convention addresses this important environmental issue primarily by providing for international cooperation in research and exchange of information. It could also serve as a framework for the negotiation of possible protocols containing [Page 1013] harmonized regulatory measures that might in the future be considered necessary to protect this critical global resource.

Nicholas Platt3
  1. Source: Department of State, Central Foreign Policy File, P860110–1619. No classification marking. Drafted by Brandt on July 31; cleared in L/T, L, and L/OES.
  2. Attached but not printed. In an undated memorandum, Butcher reported Reagan had signed the instrument of ratification on August 14. (Department of State, Chemicals, Hazardous Waste, and Ozone, 1982–1989, Lot 92D227, SENV—Ozone Convention Ratification)
  3. Richard Mueller signed for Platt above his typed signature.