710 



The Congress does so witli the understanding that, in the 

 absence ol" any provision for withdrawal from the Organi- 

 zation, the United States reserves its right to wnthdraw from 

 the Organization on a one-year notice : Provided, however, 

 tliat the financial obligations of the United States to the 

 Organization slia)! be met in full for tlie Organization's cnr- 

 rent fiscal year. [Also] the Congress does so with the under- 

 standing that nothing in the Constitution of the World 

 Health Oiganization in any maimer commits the United 

 States to enact any specific legislative program regarding any 

 matters referred to in said Constitution.*'^ 



The Credentials Committee Avas undistui-l^ed by the restn'\ation and 

 the Health Assembly at its second plenary session seated the United 

 States delegation with full rights, on the understanding that the prob- 

 lem of U.S. reservations would be discussed at a later date.*'- 



When the problem did come uj) for discussion on July 2, lO-tS, India, 

 the United Kingdom, and the USSR placed emphasis on evidence of 

 participation of the United States in international health activities 

 and on assurances given by its chief delegate that the U.S. would ful- 

 fill its responsibilities under the WHO Constitution. The representa- 

 tives of the USSR, speaking before the Assembly proposed that the 

 United States "* * * be accepted for membership." '^^ The representative 

 of India stated that an ''* * * unwilling ]\Ieml)er might withdraw in 

 one of many ways [and the U.S.] provision for termination on a 

 year's notice be considered a more straightforward method than other 

 possibilities." *""* The Assembly accepted the proposal of its President 

 that the United States should be admitted as a full member of WHO.''^ 



Obviously striving for universality of membership and global 

 function, the Assembl}^ not only accepted the United States as an im- 

 portant technical and financial contributor to WHO, but at the same 

 time refused to permit termination of membership to become an issue 

 for the future or for the U.S. method of termination to become 

 acceptable for other members. The representative of India proposed 

 that the Assembly "* * * lay down a proposition of general applica- 

 tion that any Member State may terminate its meml)ership on a yeai-'s 

 notice." ^'^ However, no observations were made with respect to his 

 proposal at that time, and when subsequent withdrawals did occur tlie 

 Assemblies made no reference to the U.S. technique of formalizing 

 tliem. 



THE TEST or SOVIET BLOC WT!'] IDKAWALS 



Withdrawals did occur, however, and tlie manner in which tliey 

 Avere handled by the Assembly was undoubtedly more im|)Oitant tlian 

 the terminations themselves or the alleged reasons underlvino- them. 

 In 1949, three Soviet States, the USSR, the Ukrainian SSR and Bye- 

 lorussia, notified the Director-General of WHO that they no longer 

 considered themselves as Members. As might l)e expected, tliere fol- 



"1 TTnited States CocTe, titlp 22. pafjcs 4477-447S. 



"'-' Cildorwood. on. cit.. p;ifri' 10. 



"3 "Official Records of WHO" (13), pages 77-79. 



"* Il)id., pasre 7R. 



"^ Ibid., page 80. Of course, as a practical matter the right of unilateral withdrawal 

 Trom such a coiiimitin<'nt inheres in national sovereignty even witliout explicit statntury 

 provision. 



«« Ibid., page 48. 



