require the President to appoint an advisory committee of not more than six members representative of the interests of United States labor, industry, agriculture, and the public, to advise and consult with the chief representative on matters coming before the OTC that affect the United States. The remaining provisions of House bill 6630 followed closely those of House bill 5550 as amended by the House Committee on Ways and Means during the second session of the 84th Congress. Specifically, these provisions made it clear that nothing in the bill should be construed to enlarge or otherwise alter the President's authority to negotiate trade agreements; to repeal or modify by implication or otherwise any existing legislation; to constitute approval or disapproval by the Congress of the tariff and trade obligations provided for in the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade; or to commit the United States to enact any specific legislation regarding any matter referred to either in the Agreement on the OTC or in the General Agreement. These provisions of the bill also stated that it was the understanding of the Congress that the functions of the OTC should be limited to the administration of the General Agreement and the facilitating of intergovernmental cooperation solely in the field of trade; that the OTC should not be brought into a specialized agency relationship with the United Nations; and that neither the President nor any other person or agency should accept on behalf of the United States any amendment to the Agreement on the OTC unless the Congress by law authorized such action. By June 30, 1957, the end of the period covered by this report, the House Committee on Ways and Means had not reported on the proposed legislation authorizing United States membership in the Organization for Trade Cooperation. Chapter 2. Developments Relating to the Operation of the INTRODUCTION The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), the most important and most comprehensive agreement that the United States has entered into under the provisions of the Trade Agreements Act, is a multilateral agreement in which the United States and 34 other countries now participate. 1/ The General Agreement consists of two parts: (1) The so-called general provisions, which consist of numbered articles that set forth rules for the conduct of trade between contracting parties 2/ and (2) the schedules of tariff concessions that have resulted from the various multilateral negotiations sponsored by the Contracting Parties. On June 30, 1957, the following 35 countries were contracting parties to the General Agreement: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Burma, Canada, Ceylon, Chile, Cuba, Czechoslovakia, Denmark, the Dominican Republic, Finland, France, the Federal Republic of Germany, Greece, Haiti, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Norway, Pakistan, Peru, the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland, Sweden, Turkey, the Union of South Africa, the United Kingdom, the United States, and Uruguay. 1/ For the earlier history of the General Agreement, see Operation of the Trade Agreements Program: First report, pt. II, ch 3; second report, pp. 19-21; third report, pp. 31-32; and fifth report, pp. 23-26. 2/ The term "contracting parties," when used without initial capitals (contracting parties), refers to member countries acting individually; when used with initial capitals (Contracting Parties), it refers to the member countries acting as a group. At the end of the period covered by this report, the General Agreement embraced the original agreement concluded by the 23 countries that negotiated at Geneva in 1947; the Annecy Protocol of 1949, under which 10 additional countries acceded to the agreement; the Torquay Protocol of 1951, under which 4 other countries acceded; and the Protocol of Terms of Accession of Japan, under which that country acceded in 1955. Indonesia, on behalf of which the Netherlands negotiated concessions at Geneva in 1947, became an independent contracting party in 1950. At one time or another during the period commencing with the Geneva Conference in 1947 and ending June 30, 1957, a total of 39 countries became contracting parties to the General Agreement. Four of these countries, the Republic of China, Lebanon, Liberia, and Syria, all of which acceded to the agreement as a result of negotiations at Geneva in 1947 or at Annecy in 1949, have since withdrawn from it. Article XXV of the General Agreement provides that the Contracting Parties shall meet from time to time to further the objectives of the agreement and to resolve operational problems that may arise. Between the Geneva Conference in 1947 and June 30, 1957, the Contracting Parties met in 11 regular sessions. From the time that the ad hoc Committee for Agenda and Intersessional Business--now called the Intersessional Committee--was established in 1951, it has held one or more meetings each year. The 11th Session of the Contracting Parties, which was held at Geneva from October 11 to November 17, 1956, was attended by representatives of 33 of the 35 contracting parties to the General AgreeTwo contracting parties--Haiti and Uruguay--did not send delegates |