negotiated price range.

Exporting members have continued depositing a one U.S. cent per pound contribution on exports into a buffer stock fund and expect to accumulate a total of $80 million by the fall of 1976.

The United States participated actively in the negotiations that led to the 1972 agreement, but declined to become a party to it. U.S. objections to the agreement were based on the inflexibility of the quota adjustment mechanism, the market share division, and the price range.

Negotiations for a new cocoa agreement, to enter into force in October 1976, were held in SeptemberOctober 1975 under UNCTAD auspices. The United States made a series of proposals for a new agreement which would avoid the deficiencies of the present one. These proposals emphasized the use of buffer stock operations in place of export quotas, and increased the range in which market prices could fluctuate. The U.S. proposals were only partially incorporated into the final text, which was accepted by most producer and consumer members. The United States and the Ivory Coast--a leading producer--have expressed reservations on the final text of the agreement, which will remain open for signature until August 31, 1976. The United States has indicated its willingness to participate in renegotiations of the cocoa agreement.

Sugar

The 1973 International Sugar Agreement had no economic provisions, but kept intact the International Sugar Organization as a consultative forum; the United States participates as an observer. The organization is currently preparing to renegotiate the 1973 agreement, and its council, which met in November 1975, recommended that a small consultative group draft a new agreement with a view to holding negotiations under UNCTAD auspices in September 1976. The United States will participate in any negotiations for a new international sugar agreement, and it expects to have every opportunity to contribute to the consultative group working on the agreement.

Tin

Since 1956, world trade in tin has been influenced by four successive 5-year international tin agreements, whose objectives have been to avoid excessive price fluctuations through balancing tin supply and demand. The International Tin Council, which administers the agreement, established floor and ceiling prices and carries out a buffer operation, buying tin to prevent prices from falling below the floor and selling tin

from the buffer stock to prevent prices from rising above the ceiling. In addition, export and production controls may be used to help support the floor price. These mechanisms are aimed at keeping tin prices within a middle sector of the floor-ceiling price band, where they are allowed to fluctuate freely.

In 1975, the United States participated in the MayJune negotiation of the Fifth International Tin Agreement, which is scheduled to come into force for a 5year period on July 1, 1976. The United States, which was not a party to the earlier tin agreements, announced during the seventh special session of the UN General Assembly in September its intention to sign the agreement, subject to congressional consultations and ratification. At the same time, the United States reiterated that it would retain its right to sell excess tin from its strategic stockpiles.

Other Commodities

Other international discussions in which the United States took part in 1975 dealt with bananas, tea, rubber, lead and zinc, and tungsten. Noteworthy among these was the FAO Intergovernmental Group on Bananas which held its sixth session in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, April 29-May 3 and unanimously decided to request the FAO Director General to convene a working party as soon as practicable to begin work toward the negotiation of an international banana agreement.

TRANSNATIONAL CORPORATIONS

The Commission on Transnational Corporations, established by ECOSOC on December 5, 1974, held its first session in New York, March 17-28, 1975. Serving as an advisory body to ECOSOC and as a forum for consideration of all issues relating to transnational corporations, the Commission, which will meet annually, is composed of 48 members elected to 3-year terms by ECOSOC.97 At this session the Commission agreed that its program of work should focus on the following areas: (1) preliminary work directed toward formulating a code of conduct; (2) establishment of a comprehensive infor

9/ Members in 1975 were Algeria, Argentina, Australia, Bangladesh, Barbados, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Colombia, Ecuador, France, Gabon, German Democratic Republic, Federal Republic of Germany, Greece, Guinea, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Italy, Ivory Coast, Jamaica, Japan, Kenya, Kuwait, Mexico, Netherlands, Nigeria, Pakistan, Peru, Philippines, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Sweden, Thailand, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Uganda, Ukrainian S.S.R., U.S.S.R., United Kingdom, United States, Venezuela, Yemen (Aden), Yugoslavia, Zaire, and Zambia.

mation system; (3) research on the political, economic, and social effects of the operations and practices of transnational corporations; (4) organization and coordination, at the request of governments, of technical cooperation programs concerning transnational corporations; and (5) work leading to a definition of transnational corporations.

The UN Information and Research Center on Transnational Corporations, which will work under the guidance of the Commission, began operating in its New York office on November 3, 1975. Klaus A. Sahlgren, a Finnish national who served as GATT Council Chairman in 1974-75, was appointed Executive Director of the Center. At its March meeting, the Commission decided that one of the priority tasks of the Information and Research Center would be to conduct comparative studies of existing national and regional legislation and any established international guidelines or codes of conduct relating to the activities of transnational corporations. The results of these studies will be incorporated into a comprehensive information system on transnational corporations. As a first step in setting up the information system, the Center is undertaking surveys on existing information and on the current state of research related to transnational corporations throughout the world.

Taking into account the results of the two surveys and other activities of the Center in its first months of operation, the Commission would formulate a detailed program of work at its second session, scheduled for Lima, Peru, in March 1976.

On July 29, 1975, the 59th ECOSOC adopted without vote a resolution requesting the Secretary General to establish joint liaison and support units in each of the regional economic commissions to contribute to the work of the Information and Research Center. The work programs of the regional units will be determined jointly by the Center and the secretariats of the regional commissions within the framework of the program agreed upon by the Commission on Transnational Corporations and ECOSOC.

U.S. Policy on Code of Conduct

The United States does not believe that a multilateral treaty establishing binding rules for transnational enterprises is possible in the near future. However, at the seventh special session of the General Assembly and in a speech on August 11 before the annual convention of the American Bar Association, Secretary of State Kissinge reaffirmed U.S. support for the Commission's efforts to articulate standards of conduct for transnational enterprises and for governments.

In

the U.S. view, any code of conduct should apply to transnational enterprises in their relations with governments, and to governments in their relations with enterprises and with other governments. Any code must also, inter alia, (1) provide that transnational enterprises be treated in accordance with existing principles of international law governing the treatment of foreigners and their property rights; (2) cover all transnationals, whether of private, state, or mixed ownership; (3) call for host governments to treat transnational enterprises equitably, without discrimination among them, and in accordance with international law; (4) set forth not only the obligations of transnationals, but also the host country's responsibilities to the foreign enterprises within its borders; and (5) acknowledge the responsibility of governments to apply recognized conflict-of-laws principles in reconciling regulations applied by various host nations.

General Assembly Resolution on Corrupt Practices

The 30th General Assembly adopted a resolution calling for measures against corrupt practices of transnational and other corporations, their intermediaries, and others involved. The resolution, introduced in the Second Committee by Iran and sponsored in its final form by 28 developing countries, condemns all corrupt practices, including bribery, and calls upon home governments to cooperate with host governments to prevent such practices and to prosecute, within their national jurisdictions, those who engage in such The resolution also reaffirms the right of any state to adopt legislation and to investigate and take appropriate legal action, in accordance with its national laws and regulations, against transnational and other corporations, their intermediaries, and others involved in corrupt practices. The Second Committee approved the resolution without vote on December 4 and the Assembly adopted it without vote on December 15.

On December 4, Ambassador Myerson made explicit the U.S. understanding of the text of the resolution, saying:

"I think that we all agree on the condemnation of corrupt practices, including bribery. The blame for such acts must be shared equally by all who participate. Thus, we interpret the reference to bribery wherever it appears in the text to cover all aspects--the offering, the payment, the solicitation, the acceptance of illegal payments."

With regard to legislation against corrupt practices enacted by states, he stressed:

It is important that such legislation clearly define the offenses and establish specific measured penalties appropriate to particular offenses and that offenders should be prosecuted through the courts on the basis of evidence and due process of law."

The United States, he said, pledged its support for cooperative action between governments to eradicate corrupt practices, but it had strong reservations about the feasibility or propriety of home countries enacting extraterritorial legislation to deal with this problem, and it called for careful examination of this issue in the Commission on Transnational Corporations.

POPULATION

Population Commission

In pursuit of its mandate from ECOSOC, the 27member Population Commission 10/ held its 18th session in New York, February 18-28, 1975. Its primary concern was the impact of the World Population Conference (held in Bucharest in August 1974) on UN population policies and upon the work of the Commission itself.

The Commission addressed itself primarily to the objectives of the World Population Plan of Action that had been adopted by the Conference, its own catalytic role in furthering population programs, and the budgetary and administrative base for carrying out its mandate. It did not challenge the responsibility of the UNDP Governing Council for the programming, budgeting, or fund-raising of the UN Fund for Population Activites (UNFPA). The United States took an active role in the work of the Commission and the results were consonant with major U.S. policy objectives in the field of population activities. The Commission adopted one resolution, and it approved four resolutions and four decisions for adoption by ECOSOC.

In order that it might better report to ECOSOC on the implications of the World Population Conference-as the 29th General Assembly had requested in 1974--the Commission requested the Secretary General to obtain additional information for it. This included nationallevel reports on implementation of the Plan of Action; reports of the undertakings by the regional commissions and other regional organizations in regard to the Plan;

10/ Members in 1975 were Brazil, Costa Rica, Denmark, Ecuador, Egypt, France, Ghana, India, Indonesia, Japan, Mauritania, Morocco, Netherlands, Niger, Panama, Peru, Philippines, Romania, Rwanda, Sweden, Thailand, Tunisia, Turkey, Ukrainian S.S.R., U.S.S.R., United Kingdom, and United States.