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We ought therefore to ask MIGA to ask its Board of Directors to designate our 10 dependent territories as developing member countries.
Timing
3.
The next meeting of MIGA's Board of Directors (its second meeting) is timetabled for 7 September. No date has been set for the one after but I guess it would be two or three months later. Argentina is not yet a member of MIGA. Spain is a member but is not presently represented on the Board of Directors. For those reasons and the general reason that it would be desirable to have developing member country status for our dependent territories sooner rather than later, I think that we ought to seek approval of the Board of Directors to developing member country status at its meeting on 7 September. Under the Rules of Procedure of the Board of Directors, the Chairman is to give notice. (with an agenda) of a meeting not less than 14 days prior to its date, although under special circumstances this can be reduced to not less than seven days. Additions to the agenda by Directors should be notified to the Chairman not less than seven days prior to the meeting. I suggest that we ought to avoid any suggestion of last minute thoughts or panic on this and therefore have the matter included on the agenda when it is issued. Subject to any contrary advice from UKDEL therefore I suggest that we aim to ask MIGA's Secretariat three weeks before the meeting, ie 17 August, the include our request on the agenda. This might cause us a slight problem in that we are arranging for an Order in Council extending the MIGA Act to British Virgin Islands, St Helena and the Turks and Caicos Islands with an effective date of 1 September 1988. But, subject to advice from Mr Grainger, I think that we can ask UKDEL to tell MIGA that we shall be withdrawing their temporary exclusion from the Convention before the Board meeting on 7 September.
Briefing
4. I hope that our request for DMC status for these dependent territories will be nodded through in the Board of Directors. We should, however, produce some defensive briefing for our Executive Director in case there are any challenges. Two possible types of challenge occur to me and a third occurred to Mr Faint when I discussed it with him earlier this week. Others may occur to copy addressees and, if so, I would be grateful for their advice. The three risks to which I refer are as follows:
X
Giraller)
a.
Gibraltar and Falkland Islands
Spain, is a member of MIGA although not a member of the Board of Directors, may wish to create mischief Argentina is not a member of MIGA but there is a Latin American seat on the Board of Directors currently occupied by a Chilean member and I suppose it is possible that he may wish to create mischief about the Falkland Islands. I must look to the respective geographical departments in the Diplomatic Wing for defensive briefing. They may feel that the advice given in IOC(87)163 of October 1987 'Political Background Brief for use at International Meetings' is sufficient for our Executive Director or they may wish to add to it. The World Bank Commentary on the MIGA Convention says 'Territorial Application .The Convention applies to all territories 'under the jurisdiction of a member'. This includes territories which, though not necessarily part of a member's territor in the strict legal sense, are subject to a country's jurisdiction for economic purposes under international law'. This commentary has no legal force but does have a certain amount of political value. I would be grateful for advice from the two geographical departments in the Diplomatic Wing whether quoting it would be regarded as a helpful to our case or would cause us some fundamental policy problems.
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