HL Deb 28 October 1954 vol 189 cc803-6

3.5 p.m.

THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS (THE MARQUESS OF READING) rose to move, That an humble Address be presented to Her Majesty, praying that the International Organisations (Immunities and Privileges of the International Sugar Council) Order, 1954, be made in the form of the Draft laid before Parliament. The noble Marquess said: My Lords, last week I submitted to your Lordships' House eight Orders of this kind relating to various international organisations. On the same day the same Orders were dealt with in another place, with the addition of the Order which is now before you. The reason why it did not come before your Lordships' House at that stage was that it had not then passed the necessary Committee of inspection which looks into these Orders before they are brought to us. It is a very simple Order of limited scope.

All the Motion does is to approve affirmatively the making of an Order which gives effect to two obligations into which Her Majesty's Government entered when they signed the International Sugar Convention in October of last year. Those two obligations, under Article 27 (6) and Article 38 (6) respectively of the Agreement, are as follows. The first gives to the International Sugar Council which is set up under the Agreement such legal capacity as may be necessary for the discharge of its functions—it gives it a corporate entity. The second is to give exemption from taxation both to the funds of the Council and to the remuneration paid by the Council to its employees. At the time when we signed that Convention we made a reservation regarding exemption from taxation of individuals—that that exemption should not apply to nationals of the country in which the headquarters were ultimately sited. The headquarters are, in fact, sited in London and this exemption, therefore, does not apply to citizens of the United Kingdom and the Colonies. I am told that at present there are nine employees of whom only two are not citizens of the United Kingdom or the Colonies; therefore, the exemption extends at present only to those two persons.

I should draw noble Lords' attention to the fact that the pictures which were painted in the discussion last week of people driving motor cars to the destruction of Her Majesty's lieges do not arise under this Order at all. Here the privilege and immunity is confined to these two particular points. I should also indicate that the noble and learned Earl, Lord Jowitt, who spoke in opposition or criticism of the Orders, confined his criticism to Orders which it was proposed to make in respect of organisations which had been in existence for a number of years before the Immunities and Privileges (International Organisations) Act, 1950, came into existence. To those made subsequently he took no exception. If there are any points which any noble Lord wishes to raise, I will do my best to answer. I commend this Order to your Lordships' House. I beg to move.

Moved, That an humble Address be presented to Her Majesty, praying that the International Organisations (Immunities and Privileges of the International Sugar Council) Order, 1954, be made in the form of the Draft laid before Parliament.—(The Marquess of Reading.)

3.9 p.m.

LORD SHEPHERD

My Lords, I thank the noble Marquess for his very clear statement upon this Order. I do not propose to object in any way to the Order, but should like to take advantage of the opportunity presented to your Lordships' House of asking a question or two about it. As I understood the noble Marquess to say, this Council is to be sited in London and is to be given a certain legal status. I shall be glad if the noble Marquess will, if he can, enlarge, for instance, upon whether the Council can be sued or can sue in the courts. I ask that because it seemed to me, if that is the position, that the Council is in a somewhat different category from the usual run of those organisations. My second point relates to income tax as it applies to those employed by the Council. I could understand relief from income tax being given to an employee of a concern of this, kind if the period of living in Great Britain was to be short; but it is possible that a man may come from abroad in the employ of the Council and reside in Great Britain for a substantial number of years. He and his family may take advantage of all the amenities and privileges of our country, and may live here for a considerable time without payment of income tax. I wonder whether something ought not to be done in a wider sense to draw a distinction between those who come amongst us temporarily and those who evidently come for a considerable period of time.

THE MARQUESS OF READING

May I deal briefly with those two points? As regards the status of the particular organisation we are dealing with, we are doing here what I think we have done with all these international organisations in the Orders with which we have dealt in the last few days, and that is to give them a corporate entity, which gives them a certain position. The effect of that is that, being a body corporate, so to speak, the Council cart both sue and be sued. At least, that is what should take to be the position, though it is not expressly provided in the Order. I think that must be the position. The granting of this corporate entity is expedient for the purposes of these bodies for a number of reasons which the noble Lord will understand.

As regards the salary aspect, here, again, this exemption has been given to the employees of a number of different bodies. We dealt, for instance, with the International Wheat Council some time in July last year, and in that case exemption was even made retrospective. No doubt salaries of persons employed are fixed with their full position in regard to exemption from income tax or liability to income tax in mind. I do not think it would be advisable to make any distinction between those who are here for a short time and those who are here for a prolonged period, because, as I say, it is known beforehand what conditions are, and the remuneration of these people has to be dealt with in the light of the known conditions when they establish themselves in this country. There are, of course, advantages in having the headquarters of a body of this kind in this country. It means that from time to time there are meetings; it means that people come here and spend foreign currency. It also has a certain prestige value, perhaps, that international headquarters should select this city as their permanent situation. I hope that I have dissipated any doubts which the noble Lord had in his mind on the subject. If that he the case I hope that your Lordships will now approve this Motion.

On Question, Motion agreed to: the said Address to be presented to Her Majesty by the Lords with White Staves.