The Relief Agreement between the United States and Greece, signed July 8, 1947, contained the following provisions: "Furnishing of Supplies. "ARTICLE I "(a) The program of assistance to be furnished shall consist of such types and quantities of supplies, and procurement, storage, transportation and shipping services related thereto, as may be determined from time to time by the United States Government after consultation with the Greek Government in accordance with Public Law 84, 80th Congress, May 31, 1947, and any acts amendatory or supplementary thereto. Such supplies shall be confined to certain basic essentials of life, namely, food, medical supplies, processed and unprocessed material for clothing, fertilizers, pesticides, fuel, and seeds. "(b) Subject to the provisions of Article III the United States Government will make no request, and will have no claim, for payment for United States relief supplies and services furnished under this Agreement. "(c) The United States Government agencies will provide for the procurement, storage, transportation and shipment to Greece of United States relief supplies, except to the extent that the United States Government may authorize other means for the performance of these services in accordance with procedures stipulated by the United States Government. All United States relief supplies shall be procured in the United States except when specific approval for procurement outside the United States is given by the United States Government. "(d) The Greek Government will from time to time submit in advance to the United States Government its proposed programs for relief import requirements. These programs shall be subject to screening and approval by the United States Government and procurement shall be authorized only for items contained in the approved programs. "ARTICLE II "Distribution of Supplies in Greece. "(a) All United States relief supplies shall be distributed by the Greek Government under the direct supervision and control of the United States representatives and in accordance with the terms of this Agreement. The distribution shall be through commercial channels to the extent feasible and desirable. "(b) All United States relief supply imports shall be free of fiscal charges including customs duties up to the point where they are sold for local currency as provided by Article III of this Agreement unless when because of price practices, it is advisable to include customs charges or government taxes in prices fixed, in which case the amount thus collected on United States relief supply imports shall accrue to the special account referred to in Article III. All United States relief supply imports given free to indigents, institutions and others shall be free of fiscal charges, including customs duties. "ARTICLE III "Utilization of Funds Accruing from Sales of United States Supplies. "(a) The prices at which the United States supplies shall be sold in Greece shall be agreed upon between the United States Government and the Greek Government. "(b) When United States relief supplies are sold for local currency, the amount of such local currency shall be deposited by the Greek Government in a special account in the name of the Greek Government. "(c) Until June 30, 1948, such funds shall be disposed of only upon approval of the duly authorized representative of the United States Government for relief and work relief purposes within Greece, including local currency expenses of the United States incident to the furnishing of relief. Any unencumbered balance remaining in such account on June 30, 1948, shall be disposed of within Greece for such purposes as the United States Government, pursuant to Act or Joint Resolution of Congress, may determine." U.S. TIAS 1637, 61 Stat. 3017, 3020-3034; XVII Bulletin, Department of State, No. 420, July 20, 1947, pp. 139–140. See also Public Law 75, May 22, 1947 (Act to Provide for Assistance to Greece and Turkey), 61 Stat. 103. For the Relief Agreement between the United States and Turkey, signed July 12, 1947, see U.S. TIAS 1629; 61 Stat. 2953; 7 UNTS 299. In a Message to Congress, December 19, 1947, President Truman stated: "The end of the fighting in Europe left that continent physically devastated and its economy temporarily paralyzed. The immediate problem was to prevent widespread starvation and disease and to make a start toward economic recovery. In the first year and a half after V-E day, the people of Western Europe, by their own diligent efforts and with the aid of the United States and other nations, made remarkable progress toward these objectives. "At the beginning of 1947, however, they were still short of the goal of economic recovery. Their difficulties were greatly increased during the present year, chiefly by a bitter winter followed by floods and droughts, which cut Western Europe's grain crop to the lowest figure in generations and hampered production of many other products. "Nevertheless, it was clear by last spring that Europe had achieved sufficient political and economic stability to make possible an overall plan for recovery. "European recovery is essentially a problem for the nations of Europe. It was therefore apparent that it could not be solved, 693-053 0-70-57 The "Marshall Plan" even with outside aid, unless the European nations themselves would find a joint solution and accept joint responsibility for its execution. Such a cooperative plan would serve to release the full productive resources of Europe and provide a proper basis for measuring the need and effectiveness of further aid from outside Europe, and in particular from the United States. "These considerations led to the suggestion by the Secretary of State on June 5, 1947, that further help from the United States should be given only after the countries of Europe had agreed upon their basic requirements and the steps which they would take in order to give proper effect to additional aid from us. "In response to this suggestion, representatives of sixteen European nations assembled in Paris in July, at the invitation of the British and French Governments, to draw up a cooperative program of European recovery. They formed a Committee of European Economic Cooperation. The countries represented were: Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey and the United Kingdom. Although Western Germany was not formally represented on the Committee, its requirements as well as its ability to contribute to European economic recovery were considered by the Committee. "In the light of all these factors, an integrated program for United States aid to European recovery has been prepared for submission to the Congress. "In developing this program, certain basic considerations have been kept in mind: "First, the program is designed to make genuine recovery possible within a definite period of time, and not merely to continue relief indefinitely. "Second, the program is designed to insure that the funds and goods which we furnish will be used most effectively for European recovery. "Third, the program is designed to minimize the financial cost to the United States, but at the same time to avoid imposing on the European countries crushing financial burdens which they could not carry in the long run. "Fourth, the program is designed with due regard for conserving the physical resources of the United States and minimizing the impact on our economy of furnishing aid to Europe. "Fifth, the program is designed to be consistent with other international relationships and responsibilities of the United States. "Sixth, the administration of the program is designed to carry out wisely and efficiently this great enterprise of our foreign policy." XVII Bulletin, Department of State, No. 443, Dec. 28, 1947, pp. 1233, 1234, 1237; 93 Cong. Rec., pp. 11749, 11751. For Secretary of State Marshall's suggestion made in his speech at See further I General Report, Committee of European Economic Coopera- See also this chapter, § 26, "Organisation for European Economic For Economic Cooperation Act of 1948, see 62 Stat. 137. Further, see Gross, "Foreign Aid and Reconstruction, International Law and the European Recovery Program", XVIII Bulletin, Department of State, No. 461, May 2, 1948, p. 564. For achievements, see "Achievements of the Marshall Plan", prepared by the Economic Cooperation Administration. XXVI Bulletin, Department of State, No. 655, Jan. 14, 1952, pp. 43, 44-45; Cardozo, "Foreign-Aid Articles and the Burden of Loss", XXI Bulletin, Department of State, No. 528. Aug. 15, 1949, pp. 215–222. The U.S. Economic Cooperation Act of 1948 provided for aid to Europe including occupied Germany. ECA aid was also provided to the African dependencies of France, and of the United Kingdom, Belgium, and Portugal. McGhee, Assistant Secretary of State, "Africa's Role in the Free World Today", XXV Bulletin, Department of State, No. 629, July 16, 1951, pp. 97, 101. In regard to Germany, see Goedecke, "Die Rechtsgrundlagen der Wirtschaftshilfe der Vereinigten Staaten von Amerika für die Bundesrepublik und Berlin", 6 Jahrbuch für Internationales Recht (1956) 139. Before the enactment of the Economic Cooperation Act of 1948 in- President Truman, in his inaugural address on January 20, 1949, stated: President 1949 "In the coming years, our program for peace and freedom will program, emphasize four major courses of action. "First. We will continue to give unfaltering support to the United Nations and related agencies, "Second. We will continue our programs for world economic recovery. This means, first of all, that we must keep our full weight behind the European recovery program [supra]. "In addition, we must carry out our plans for reducing the barriers to world trade and increasing its volume. Economic recovery and peace itself depend on increased world trade. "Third. We will strengthen freedom-loving nations against the dangers of aggression. "In addition, we will provide military advice and equipment to free nations which will cooperate with us in the maintenance of peace and security. Point IV U.S. military assistance, 1949 Title IV, "Fourth. We must embark on a bold new program for making the benefits of our scientific advances and industrial progress available for the improvement and growth of underdeveloped areas. "More than half the people of the world are living in conditions approaching misery. Their food is inadequate. They are victims of disease. Their economic life is primitive and stagnant. Their poverty is a handicap and a threat both to them and to more prosperous areas. "For the first time in history humanity possesses the knowledge and the skill to relieve the suffering of these people. "The United States is pre-eminent among nations in the development of industrial and scientific techniques. The material resources which we can afford to use for the assistance of other peoples are limited. But our imponderable resources in technical knowledge are constantly growing and are inexhaustible. "I believe that we should make available to peace-loving peoples the benefits of our store of technical knowledge in order to help them realize their aspirations for a better life. And, in cooperation with other nations, we should foster capital investment in areas needing development.' Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: Harry S. Truman, 1949 (1964) 112, 114-115; 95 Cong. Rec. 477-478; XX Bulletin, Department of State, No. 500, Jan. 30, 1949, pp. 123, 124-125. In 1949 the U.S. Congress passed the Mutual Defense Assistance Act of 1949 inaugurating a military assistance program for friendly foreign countries, especially the North Atlantic Treaty countries. The Act continued existing assistance programs, particularly aid to Greece and Turkey. The Foreign Economic Assistance Act of 1950 marked the beginning of a United States technical assistance program. Title IV of the 1950 Act was known as the Act for International Development and was popularly referred to as the "Point Four Program". In section 403 (a) of title IV of that Act, the Congress stated: "SEC. 403. (a) It is declared to be the policy of the United States to aid the efforts of the peoples of economically underdeveloped areas to develop their resources and improve their working and living conditions by encouraging the exchange of technical knowledge and skills and the flow of investment capital to countries which provide conditions under which such technical assistance and capital can effectively and constructively contribute to raising standards of living, creating new sources of wealth, increasing productivity and expanding purchasing power." The Act for International Development (1950) authorized United States participation in multilateral technical cooperation programs under the auspices of the United Nations, the Organization of Ameri |