611.3331/455: Telegram

The Ambassador in Uruguay ( Dawson ) to the Secretary of State

381. Department’s No. 270, May 14. In accordance with paragraph 1 Department’s telegram No. 390, December 31,28 it was pointed out to the Uruguayan officials during the negotiations that the exchange of notes regarding customs penalties need not be made public. It was agreed that the text would not be published but the Uruguayan officials expressed no particular preference.

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Acting on Horton Henry’s report of his telephone conversation with the Department it was suggested to the Uruguayan officials that the inclusion of the substance of the note in a paragraph in the final minutes would be preferred. Confirmation of their acceptance was received today. The English translation of the text agreed upon follows:

“4. With reference to article XVI it was understood that the basic customs law of Uruguay does not permit the consideration of good faith when errors in documentation have occurred, but that Uruguayan customs legislation authorizes the correction of errors in documentation within given periods before the consular authorities of the port of embarkation as well as before the customs authorities of the port of destination. Moreover, it was agreed that the Government of Uruguay will give sympathetic consideration to cases where North American exporters might be prejudiced through unintentional errors in the original documents which accompany the merchandise shipped.”

Dawson