UN Palestine Commission – Draft of letter regarding food situation – Letter from United Kingdom

 UNITED NATIONS PALESTINE COMMISSION

Draft of Communication to be seat to Mr. Fletcher-Cooke of the United Kingdom Delegation regarding the food situation

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To: Mr. J. Fletcher-Cooke,  

United Kingdom Delegation,

On 5 March, I addressed to you, on behalf of the Commission, an urgent request or the Mandatory Power to extend the purchases of certain essential foods financed by the Trading Account of the Government at Palestine. The Commission has since received more detailed information on the food situation, and I am now directed to ask you to put before your Government the specific proposals set out below.

It is essential that these matters should be settled without delay since, shipments are not laid on within the next week or so, a serious gap will exist in the supply of some essential foods in Palestine after 15 May.

The specific proposals which the Commission has to make are as follows:

Bread Cereals:

The Mandatory Power is requested to purchase immediately, through the Government Trading Account, at least a sufficient quantity of bread cereals, preferably in the form of wheat flour equivalents, to complete the allocations fixed by the International Emergency Food Council to 30 June.

Sugar:

The Mandatory Power is requested to purchase, through the Government trading Account, 5,000 tons of sugar which, in addition to the 10,000 tons already laid on by the Ministry of Food, would provide Palestine with 15,000 tons of the total of 25,000 tons originally programmed for the whole et 1948.

Meat:

The Mandatory Power is requested to grant import licenses immediately for the purchase of frozen and canned mats to complete up to 1 October at least the proportionate amount of the 1948 allocations of 2,400 tons frozen and 1,500 tons canned meats, in addition to the 1947 allocated quantities not lifted.

Fats and Oils:

The Mandatory Power is requested to grant import licenses immediately for the purchase of

to be imported as “Oil” or as “Material for processing”,

If the Mandatory Power agrees in general to accept these proposals Mr. Hanson, the food  expert now representing the Commission in London, will be instructed immediately to arrange the final details of the agreement with the Mandatory Power.

I think you fully appreciate the urgency of this question and the necessity to arrive at a decision within a matter of days.

Yours sincerely,

R. J. Bunche