VP
DEPARTMENT OF EMPLOYMENT
OVERSEAS BRANCH B
Steel House 11 Tothill Street London SW1
Telephone 01-799 7777 ext
44
Miss M M Swan
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
Gibraltar and General De ertment LONDON
SW1A 2AH
Dear Marjore,
You reference
HX12/9
Our reference
6/03 286/72
Date
August 1975
Fred Sharples has passed me your letter of o hugust headed "197th Session of the Governing Body" since the subject you are reising, the arrangements for issuing invitations to the Asian Regional Seminar on Occupational Safety and Health, falls on my side of the house.
We have, at your behest, reminded the ILO on a number of occasions that all approaches to dependent territories should be made through the UK Government. Although breaches of protocol do occur from time to time, I do not think that this would justify us in committing the discourtesy of suggesting to the ILO that they were about to sin again. The use of the term "country" is not unusual in the circumstances.
Might I suggest in return that perhaps the time has come for the FCO to review the question of lines of communication. When requests relating to dependent territories come directly to the UK Government, we are frequently told by FCO that time does not permit proper consultation with the dependent territory or territories concerned. Now that the ILC has decentralised (with UK approval) so many of its activities to the regions, would it not solve a number of your problems if communications from ILO regional offices went direct to dependent territories, who would have instruct- ions to refer for guidance, the ILC regional offices being instructed to copy such letters etc. to the UK.
Yours sincerely
LA
42
co Mr M Hilton (UND) FCO
Mr A L Wotton (HKIOD) FCO Mr F Sharples OB 1 DE
JA WOOLGAR
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