853M.6363/32: Telegram
The Ambassador to the Belgian Government in Exile (Biddle) to the Secretary of State
[Received March 13—1:50 p.m.]
Belgian Series 8. Your Belgian Series No. 7 of March 9, 7 p.m. Minister for Colonies De Vleeschauer is agreeable to the establishment of an export control to cover shipments of petroleum products to Angola. He suggests that this control take the form either (a) of the issuance of export licenses subject to consular visa or (b) of a fixed limit on quantity to be exported. While either scheme would be agreeable to him he is inclined to feel that due to the great distance [Page 590] between some shipping points and our Consulate the latter scheme would prove the more practical of the two.
Moreover, he feels that in applying the control, it is advisable to take into consideration 1) the importance to the Congo of imports of salt, dried fish and dried meat from Angola, 2) the current and potential usefulness to the Allied war effort of the railway from Lobito.