International Civil Aviation Organization

The Council of the International Civil Aviation Organization held its 19th meeting in Montreal, Canada, from April 29 to May 22 and June 10 to 12, 1953. Nineteen of the twenty-one members of the Council attended the session. The Council made several decisions concerning ICAO's relations with other international organizations. After considering the president's report on discussions with the International Telecommunication Union on the subject of Class B messages, the Council approved a proposal sponsored by the United States that the president of the Council should be authorized to continue such consultations at his own discretion. A United Kingdom proposal that an interagency study committee be appointed was rejected. Concerning the invitation of the Council of Europe to ICAO to convene a conference on the coordination of European air transport, the Council of ICAO felt that the successful outcome of such a conference would be expedited if careful preparation were made before the conference was actually convened. It therefore proposed that the following steps be taken: 1) that Belgium, Denmark, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom be invited to nominate representatives to a preparatory committee which would study the agenda and questions which might arise on the agenda of the proposed conference and report to the Council; 2) that the president of the Council ascertain whether the proposed action was acceptable to the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, with the understanding that if ICAO accepted responsibility for convening the conference, the results of the conference would be made available to all ICAO members; and 3) that the Secretary-General of ICAO undertake the necessary preparatorywork for the conference should the other arrangements be concluded satisfactorily. The Council also approved a new text of arrangements for liaison between ICAO and the World Meteorological Organization. The recommendations of the Air Navigation Commission concerning the dates and locations of the second Air Navigation Conference, the fifth session of the COM Division and the fourth session of the MET Division were approved. The invitation of Spain that the second African Indian Ocean Regional Air Navigation Meeting be held at Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Canary Islands, was accepted by the Council, which set November 17, 1953, as the date on which the meeting would convene.