Agreement on International Carriage of Perishable Foodstuffs Message to the Senate Transmitting the Agreement.

To the Senate of the United States:

I transmit herewith, for the advice and consent of the Senate to accession, the Agreement on the International Carriage of Perishable Foodstuffs and on the Special Equipment to be Used for Such Carriage (ATP), done at Geneva on September 1, 1970, under the auspices of the Economic Commission for Europe (ECE). For the information of the Senate, I also transmit the report of the Department of State on the Agreement.

The Agreement came into force on November 21, 1976 following ratification by France, the Federal Republic of Germany, Spain, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, and Yugoslavia. Since then, Denmark, Austria, Italy, Luxembourg, and Bulgaria have also ratified it.

The Agreement requires that insulated, refrigerated or heated transportation equipment used to move perishable foodstuffs into contracting states be tested, certified and marked to ensure that such equipment is properly insulated and capable of maintaining a prescribed temperature within the equipment.

Article 5 exempts equipment whose movement involves a deep sea voyage of 150 kilometers or more. Thus, traffic in foodstuffs between the United States and Europe is not subject to the ATP. In addition, and in accordance with an option available under Article 10, the United States will not apply the ATP to transport equipment operating within and moving into and out of the United States and its territories.

However, accession to the ATP will ensure that the United States has a voice in ECE deliberations and decisions pertaining to the administration of the ATP, a matter of concern to U.S. exporters of perishable foodstuffs and operators of refrigerated equipment. U.S. participation will be particularly important in relation to the Article 5 exemption of carriage involving a long sea voyage. As a contracting party, the U.S. will be able to preserve this exemption by exercising the power under Article 18 to veto any proposed changes in the ATP.

Moreover, accession will enable manufacturers, owners and operators of U.S. transport equipment to have their equipment tested and certified in the United States with the assurance that the U.S. issued certificates will be recognized by all of the contracting parties. While parties to the ATP must, under the terms of Article 2, recognize the validity of certificates issued by other contracting parties, they need not recognize certificates issued by non-parties. If the United States does not become a party, U.S. transport equipment which does not qualify for the Article 5 exemption—that is, equipment moving between countries in Europe—will be placed at a competitive disadvantage with respect to equipment owned by nationals of parties to the ATP. Furthermore, the availability of testing and certification services in the United States will enable manufacturers, owners and operators of U.S. transport equipment which may become involved in inter-European transport to test and certify their equipment while it is still on the production line.

I recommend that the Senate give early and favorable consideration to the Agreement and give its advice and consent to accession, subject to the declaration pursuant to Article 10 that the Agreement does not apply to carriage in the United States or its territories.

JIMMY CARTER

The White House,

January 19, 1979.