HOST COUNTRY COMMITTEE DELAYS ACTION ON RECOMMENDATION THAT GENERAL ASSEMBLY CONSIDER PARKING ISSUE

31 March 1997

Press Release
HQ/574

HOST COUNTRY COMMITTEE DELAYS ACTION ON RECOMMENDATION THAT GENERAL ASSEMBLY CONSIDER PARKING ISSUE

19970331 France Proposes Assembly Consideration; Says Delay Possible If Parking Programme Implementation Also Delayed

The Committee on Relations with the Host Country this afternoon delayed for one day action on a recommendation that the General Assembly consider, on an urgent basis, the diplomatic parking issue in New York City. The delay was requested by several delegations to allow them to obtain instructions from their respective Governments.

The representative of France proposed that the Assembly consider the issue and further recommended that the Assembly could postpone consideration of the issue if the host country was able to defer the implementation of the New York City Diplomatic Parking Programme, which is scheduled to take effect 1 April. The French representative added that if the Assembly's position was not respected by the host country, then the Headquarters Agreement could be brought into play and the matter settled in the domain of international justice. The real question concerned the host country's respect for its obligation to protect the function of the diplomatic community.

The representative of the United States affirmed that New York City had given assurances that its Diplomatic Parking Programme and the attendant benefits were in place and would be operative on 1 April. The Department of State, on the other hand, would not be taking action on its obligations under the Programme until April 1998, although earlier action might be requested on cases involving repeat offenders who parked in front of fire hydrants. He assured the Committee that the host country would not support the Programme if the City did not honour its obligations and he called on the Committee to continue to discuss the issue.

Many speakers joined in the call for a discussion of the issue in the General Assembly. Several speakers brought up the possibility of transferring functions and bodies to another city, such as Geneva or Vienna. Some speakers cautioned against inflammatory rhetoric that could interfere with the process of finding a solution and called on the Committee to continue its efforts.

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The United Nations Legal Counsel, as a representative of the Secretary- General, appealed to the host country to delay the implementation of the Parking Programme for a short time. The request was based on the observation that the Programme might not be ready for implementation. The Committee had the capacity to solve the issue through further discussion, if a short window of opportunity could be created, he said.

Among the terms of the new parking plan was the provision that New York City would provide each mission with up to three parking spaces and a "hot line" to report unauthorized use of those spaces. On the enforcement side, the plan allowed for registration suspension and possible towing of diplomatic vehicles with "scofflaw" status -- one or more outstanding parking violations, which had not been properly adjudicated, for a period of 12 months or more.

In a decision issued on 20 March, the United Nations Legal Counsel had acknowledged the host country's right to establish parking regulations, but questioned the international legality of towing or other forms of fine enforcement for diplomatic personnel. During the Committee's debate on 27 March, many States said the allocation of parking spaces, the appeals process for parking tickets and the training of ticketing personnel were matters that needed to be properly addressed, before a programme could be implemented.

At the same meeting on 27 March, the United States, as host country took the position that driving was not an absolute right, but a privilege that could be withdrawn in case of abuse. The United States, while recognizing its obligation to provide facilities for missions to perform their functions, did not believe that the implementation of the Programme would deprive missions of such facilities or interfere with internationally recognized privileges and immunities, its representative said. The Programme would be implemented on a comprehensive basis so that the diplomatic community would receive the benefits of the new Programme while discharging its obligations under local law.

Other statements were made this afternoon by the representatives of the United Kingdom, Spain, Iraq, Honduras, Russian Federation, China, Canada, Brazil, Zaire, Indonesia, Mexico, Malaysia, Cambodia, Cyprus and Cote d'Ivoire.

The Committee will meet again at 3 p.m., Tuesday, 1 April to take action on the recommendation to the Assembly.

Committee Work Programme

The Committee on Relations with the Host Country met this afternoon to continue its discussion of transportation issues, including the use of motor vehicles, parking and related matters.

In a Thursday, 27 March, meeting, the Committee held an extensive discussion of the New York City Diplomatic Parking Programme, scheduled to take effect on 1 April. The Programme is described in a text prepared by the Chairman of the Committee (document A/AC.154/305) and a note verbale attached to a 14 March letter from the representative of the United States (document A/AC.154/306). Discussion focused particularly on the opinion of the programme provided by the United Nations Legal Counsel (document A/AC.154/307). While a temporary delay in the implementation of the new programme was requested by many of the speakers in the Committee, the representative of the United States indicated that the programme would go ahead as scheduled.

According to the texts before the Committee, the parking programme will apply only to vehicles with license plates in the series "D" (issued to members of the diplomatic staff of the permanent missions accredited to the United Nations), "A" (issued to United Nations Secretariat, including a limited number of senior officials entitled to diplomatic status) and "C" (issued to consular corps, which does not concern the United Nations). Vehicles with "S" series plates (issued to non-diplomatic staff of permanent missions) will remain subject to the full range of New York City parking enforcement measures and the substantive provisions of the programme will not apply to them.

Under the terms of the plan outlined in the text, the New York City Commission for the United Nations and Consular Corps will ensure that each United Nations mission and each consulate has in place a dedicated number of parking spots (currently, two for the office and one for the Ambassador's or Consul General's residence). Further, the New York City Department of Finance will designate a person or office in charge of reviewing tickets issued to diplomatic vehicles to ascertain which tickets are valid and which were incorrectly issued and should be dismissed.

Also, the New York Police Department will provide a telephone "hot line" where missions and consulates may report unauthorized vehicles in their diplomatic parking areas. The New York City Department of Finance will provide a monthly printout of any summonses outstanding against "D", "A" and "C" plate vehicles to the New York Regional Office of the Office of Foreign Missions, New York, and to each mission and consulate involved. A printout for United Nations mission vehicles will also be sent to the Office of Host Country Affairs at the United States Mission to the United Nations.

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Further, the plan will define a scofflaw -- someone "unresponsive" -- as anyone who has one or more outstanding violations issued against his/her car for a period of 12 months or more from the date of issuance of the violation. Scofflaw status will include collateral vehicles registered to individual diplomats. For any vehicle with scofflaw status, the Office of Foreign Missions, New York, will notify the vehicle registrant that the vehicle cannot be legally operated until that status is removed by the adjudication of the outstanding violation(s). Upon such notification, the State Department will request that the diplomatic plates be returned until the scofflaw status is removed. Should a vehicle with scofflaw status be towed, the diplomatic plates will be removed and it will not be released for operation without evidence of valid insurance and State Department registration.

That provision will also apply to the registrant of any vehicle identified by the City of New York as having received one or more violations for parking in front of a fire hydrant during the period from 1 January 1997 to the start of the programme. Such vehicle owners/registrants will be notified by the State Department of the existence of an outstanding fire hydrant violation and requested to satisfy it.

According to the 20 March opinion issued by the United Nations Legal Counsel, the general elements of the City programme are clearly within the scope of the host country's power to establish the laws and regulations governing the operation and parking of diplomatic vehicles and related matters. Parts of the programme, he states, should even be welcomed as likely to reduce the current difficulty of diplomatic missions in securing parking and in voiding unjustified tickets.

For example, he continues, the City is to assume an obligation to ensure that each mission has two parking spaces and one allocated for the residence of the Permanent Representative. Further, the New York Police Department is to establish a telephone "hot line" for missions to report unauthorized vehicles parked in their diplomatic parking areas, which could then be subject to towing. Also, the New York City Department of Finance is to provide each mission with a monthly computerized report of all parking tickets issued to its diplomatic vehicles, indicating which tickets remain outstanding. An officer of the New York City Department of Finance is to be designated to deal exclusively with tickets pertaining to the diplomatic community.

Certain provisions of the Programme, however, are inconsistent with international law, he states. For example, removal of licence plates from vehicles towed to a place of safe keeping, and non-release of a diplomatic vehicle for operation until payment of a fine and/or a charge for its towing or safe keeping, would appear to be enforcement measures and amount to an exercise of jurisdiction. They are, therefore, inconsistent with article 31 of the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, articles IV and V of the 1946 Convention on the Privileges and Immunities of the United Nations and

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article V of the 1947 Headquarters Agreement. More importantly, they would be inconsistent with the host country's obligation to facilitate the functioning of the missions accredited to the United Nations and of their members.

In addition, the provision of the Programme envisaging a special regime concerning any diplomatic vehicle having received any tickets for parking by a fire hydrant during the period from 1 January 1997 to the start of the Programme evidently has a retroactive element, which would not be consonant with general principles of law.

The Legal Counsel adds, however, that the fact that the host country cannot under international law take all the measures envisaged in the Programme should not create the impression that there are no means of addressing a situation of a diplomat accredited to an international organization failing to obey local laws.

Statements

ROBERT MOLLER (United States) said that his delegation had over the past few days held intensive discussions with New York City on implementation of its Diplomatic Parking Programme. The City intended to implement its part of the Programme, beginning on 1 April. The Department of State, on the other hand, would not be taking action on implementation of its obligations under the Programme until April 1998, although it might be requested to take earlier action on those few cases involving repeat offenders who parked in front of fire hydrants. That built-in delay provided the United Nations community with considerable time to continue discussions of the Programme in the Committee and in its working group.

He said that starting 1 April every mission would be assigned two parking spaces as close as possible to the mission, and one parking space as close as possible to the residence of the Permanent Representative, if that residence was in the city. Each mission was to be informed of the location of those three spaces. If that had not occurred, the missions should inform the United States Mission immediately.

Beginning 1 April, he continued, the City would only issue parking tickets that are, in the words of the Legal Counsel, "justifiable, non- discriminatory, and in full compliance with all laws and regulations". Non- diplomatic cars would be towed from diplomatic parking spaces when the police "hotline" was called. Tomorrow's implementation date also meant that the United Nations diplomatic community would be expected to pay all parking tickets received beginning 1 April until the city had notified the diplomat or the mission that the tickets were invalid or had otherwise been dismissed.

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He went on to say that New York City had given assurances that the Programme and its attendant benefits "are in place and will be operative tomorrow morning". The support of the United States delegation for and participation in the Programme was subject to comprehensive, simultaneous implementation by the City. If all the components were not in place or were not working correctly, the host country would not support the Programme or take any actions until all components were proceeding as outlined by the City. Any action which might eventually be taken by the Department of State to withhold registration of a vehicle in the vast majority of cases would not take place until one year from the date it was clear that the City's Programme was working as envisaged.

He concluded by saying that once the City's part of the Programme had been in effect for a week or two, there would be a better idea of its merits - - or possibly of its inconsistencies. A meeting of the working group on parking might be arranged during the week of 14 April.

HUBERT LEGAL (France) said the statement made by the representative of the United States had in no way diminished the concerns of the diplomatic community, because it was only procedural in nature. The argument just put before the Committee made a distinction between New York City and the State Department, but for the diplomatic community there was no distinction between the federal administration and the collective authorities under it. Therefore, it appeared that the United States Government fully supported the local government's Parking Programme, as there had been no follow-up to comments made by the Committee last week and the opinion issued by the Legal Counsel.

The implementation of the New York City Diplomatic Parking Programme was the implementation of a coercive measure, he said. The one-year suspension of activity by the State Department was meaningless, because unpaid parking tickets would have to accrue for one year before the State Department would take action by seizing cars and license plates. This past weekend, the Committee had heard public statements by the Mayor of New York City, who said that starting 1 April progress would be made, because it would be possible for the City to collect parking fines from diplomats. That was obviously the essential aspect of the Programme. The other facets, like the hot line and parking spaces, were merely a cover to make the Programme more palatable to the diplomatic community.

The Parking Programme flew in the face of international law, and the Committee had no time to loose in reacting to it, he said. The Committee should cease its discussions about the issue this afternoon and request the General Assembly to spell out the United Nations position on the Programme. If the Assembly's position was not respected by the host country, then the Headquarters Agreement would be brought into play and the matter would be settled in the domain of international justice.

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The real problem was the question of the host country's respect for its obligation to protect the diplomatic function of the community, he said. It was a privilege for a country to host the most important international diplomatic body and that privilege went hand in hand with certain obligations to ensure that the United Nations could properly do its work. If it was impossible for the United States to host the United Nations and allow its operations to run smoothly, then it would not be a tragedy for the Organization to transfer certain functions and bodies to another city, such as Geneva or Vienna.

The host country's juridical arguments offered in defence of the Parking Programme were pitiful, he said. The underpinning of the argument was that diplomats had no need for a car in order to perform their duties in New York City. That argument presupposed that public transportation in New York City was adequate. However, the subway in New York City was outdated, dirty and dangerous. The buses were unreliable and the taxis were wrecks. Public transportation in New York City was a disaster when compared to the facilities available in other world capitals. When United States officials no longer have a car available to them, then let them come before this Committee and state that a car was not essential for a diplomat New York.

The Chairman should suspend today's meeting to allow delegations time to devise a recommendation that the General Assembly meet in emergency session to address the matter, he said.

ELIZABETH WILMSHURST (United Kingdom) said the heat should be taken out of the situation rather than added to it, if a reasonable solution was to be found. She stressed that, as of this morning, her Mission did not have parking spaces in place. Given the fact that the City obviously could not implement its part of the Programme, the host country should confirm that it would in turn delay its implementation of the 12-month "trigger" element of the Programme.

JORGE SANCHEZ (Spain) said he agreed with the form and substance of many of the points made by the representative of France. Concerning the legalities of the parking plan, he said the legal position put forward in the paper submitted by the United States represented only one opinion. It was put forward by one country, which, after all, was protecting its own interests.

The host country was obliged to honour its commitments in the Host Country Agreement, he said. He acknowledged, however, that there were legitimate concerns to be recognized, which had been raised by the local authorities. A joint effort was necessary to bring together the City, the Federal Government and the United Nations. It was certainly reasonable to consider another location outside the United States for the Headquarters of the Organization. There were other potential host cities that might take pride in hosting the United Nations.

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He expressed sadness that the United Nations was being treated like a "poor immigrant". The situation had been characterized as a clash between the diplomatic community and the City. The problem really involved only a small minority of members of the diplomatic community. If the city wanted to harass a particular minority -- the diplomatic community -- and isolate it from the community as a whole, it was free to do so. The issue, however, had gone beyond a stated attempt by the City to solve a problem.

MOWAFAK MAHMOUD AYOUB (Iraq) said the Programme would be effective in only a few hours and the Committee had not been able to find a solution. The failure was due to the inability of the host country to deal with the mistakes in the Parking Programme. The mistakes were well described in the opinion put forward by the United Nations Legal Counsel. Iraq, for example, had received two parking spaces for its Mission and it had rented four other spaces. Many parking tickets had been received, however, because the spaces in front of the Mission were often not available.

If the Programme were to be implemented, the authorities would have a tool by which they could intensify focus on the diplomatic community, he said. That community could, in turn, choose not to honour those fines. It could lead to much greater friction between local authorities and the diplomatic community. New York City received many benefits from the presence of the Organization and the host country received considerable political benefits. The host country had to respect its contractual obligations with the United Nations. Statistics on the parking problem had been requested from the host country and the City. Those figures had not been provided, which suggested that the Programme might have been established on an arbitrary basis. He supported the call to move the issue to the General Assembly since the Committee had not been able to resolve it.

OCTAVIO PINEDA ESPINOZA (Honduras) said any host country had a sovereign right to adopt and promulgate laws in order to govern the circulation of vehicles and representatives should abide by those regulations and laws. However, he could not go along with laws that limited the freedom of movement of diplomats and their licensed vehicles. Repeated requests by members of the Committee to delay implementation of the Programme, in part because adequate spaces had not been provided, had not been afforded serious consideration, nor has the Legal Counsel's argument. Therefore, the General Assembly should take up the matter.

ALEXANDRE V. ZMEEVSKI (Russian Federation) said, unfortunately, he did not hear anything new in the statement of the representative of the host country. The Committee was becoming deadlocked and there had been no solution to the practical and legal aspects of the problem. He agreed with the statement of the representative of France that it was dangerous to separate the two aspects. They were two sides of the same coin.

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The Committee should appeal to a higher body in order to find a solution between those two aspects, he said. If the opinion has of the General Assembly was rejected or called into question, then a legal opinion should be sought from the International Court of Justice. In order to continue to work calmly on the topic, the Committee needed to continue to find constructive solutions to ease the atmosphere of tension and to appeal, using the authority of the General Assembly, to the host country with a proposal to defer implementation of the Parking Programme. It made sense to recommend that the General Assembly establish a working group that could, on a broader and more representative basis, continue to try to find mutually acceptable solutions.

The Committee's discussions had quite clearly shown that the topic went beyond the interest of just its members, he said. Those ideas were worthy of attention and other proposals. He proposed that the Committee move to a conclusion and recess for one hour, so a possible recommendation to the General Assembly could be prepared.

WANG CHENGJUN (China) said he was dissatisfied with the response of the host country to the New York City Diplomatic Parking Programme. In the last two weeks the Committee had worked intensively to find a formula that was acceptable to all parties. The work of the Committee had come to an end and it must find other avenues. He fully agreed with the earlier suggestions that the issue be submitted to the General Assembly, a legal opinion be sought from the International Court of Justice and a working group of the General Assembly be formed to study this question.

The issue had become a very serious problem, he continued. The interest of the diplomatic community had not been protected and defended, despite the great efforts of the Committee. The immunity of the diplomatic community was being challenged by the New York City Programme. Therefore, the implementation of the Programme should be suspended. In past meetings, the Committee had repeatedly asked for statistics on diplomatic traffic violations, but regrettably the Committee had yet to receive them from the City. The host country should fully respect the privileges and immunities of diplomats and provide the necessary protocols and respect. Such respect was mutual and reciprocal. Therefore, in seeking the solution to the problem, all parties should bear that in mind.

JOHN T. HOLMES (Canada) thanked the delegate from the host country for his statement and said there were positive elements in it. However, he was disappointed that New York City would proceed with implementation of the Programme on 1 April. His delegation had questions regarding the allotment of parking spaces and encouraged the City to give some thought to that unfortunate development. Elements of the policy were not yet in place and the City should consider some kind of delay.

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Representatives should keep the debate at a reasonable temperature and level, he said. He would not be opposed to a recess, but he did have reservations about taking the issue to another forum. He was encouraged by the host country's suggestion to hold another meeting on the subject in a few weeks. He was uncomfortable about raising the debate to another forum and suggested that the Committee exhaust its efforts to find a workable solution that was palatable to all concerned parties. A number of issues were at stake, and practical solutions were available.

EMILIA CASTRO DE BARISH (Costa Rica) said all the discussion had not led to a one-month postponement of the Parking Programme, despite the stated wishes of many delegations. The City had not, as yet, carried out its obligations. Her delegation, for example, had not received official notification of its parking spaces. The host country had signed the Headquarters Agreement, not New York City. She endorsed moving the issue to the General Assembly. The Assembly could solicit, if necessary, a legal opinion from the International Court of Justice. Another working group was unnecessary.

Mr. MOLLER (United States) said he would also like to remove the fire from the debate. The problem deserved a thorough discussion. The previous parking programme in the City had been unsuccessful and unfair. It had treated diplomats as open game for city authorities. From the beginning, the United States Government had felt that legitimate summonses should be paid by diplomatic personnel.

New York City had taken the position in the past that diplomats had not been held responsible for violations, he continued. Outside of the City, diplomats were expected to pay their fines. It was not a new problem. The City had changed its mind and simply decided to have the diplomats pay their summonses. The host country had offered some clarifications on the City Programme, concerning such areas as towing and impoundment.

When the city changed its mind, the Department of State had entered into a dialogue with the City to rectify past problems, he continued. The host country told the City to provide more parking spots for the diplomatic community. To the issue of non-diplomatic vehicles parked in those spots, the City offered the towing enforcement procedure. The host country was faced with the problem of how to deal with local laws. If the City went ahead with the Programme and its obligations were not met, then the Federal Government would not endorse the Programme. There were a number of ways to continue discussion of the problem. It was not possible in New York City to simply allow the diplomatic community to do as it pleased and police itself.

He said the United States had two official cars for its Mission. He took the train and other public transportation when he came to work. No one should jump quickly to move Headquarters to another city if New York

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implemented its Parking Programme. He did not support moving the discussion to another forum. If the City did not honour its stated obligations, the State Department would act accordingly. The diplomatic community should not expect to be treated with extreme favouritism, any more than it should expect to be treated in a discriminatory manner. The Programme should be allowed to function for a month and then discussed. After that a decision about the Assembly could be made.

JOSE EDUARDO MARTINS FELICIO (Brazil) endorsed the statement by France. He said it was time to again raise the temperature of the discussion. He said his Mission's cars had been ticketed this morning when parked legally. The signs had been changed while the cars were parked, and the tickets had been given accordingly. The statement of the United States sounded like an election year endorsement of the Parking Programme. It was unfortunate that the work of the Committee had not been taken seriously. Maybe it was time to take up the matter in the General Assembly. The Assembly could endorse the opinion of the Legal Counsel.

KHABOUJI N'ZAJI LUKABU (Zaire) said the Committee was drifting off course. It was charged with relations with the host country, not with the host city. The United States had to shoulder its responsibilities. It was up to the Federal Government to resolve the difficulties with New York City. The host country was the signatory of the Headquarters Agreement. The representative of New York City was not a legitimate part of the discussion. The Parking Programme was a violation of all the rules and standards applied to the diplomatic community.

MR. YAHAYA (Malaysia) asked, as a point of clarification, if the United States State Department, as a result of its suspension of the Programme until April 1998, would not confiscate diplomatic license plates for fines that went unpaid during the year between now and April 1998. In addition, would diplomatic vehicles be ticketed if construction work was being done on the streets where a mission's designated parking spaces were located? His delegation also agreed with the representative of the United Kingdom that the Programme should not be implemented until all promises made by New York City had been fulfilled.

NORBERTO TERRAZAS (Mexico) said the host country must provide diplomatic missions and their staff with the facilities necessary for them to do their jobs. The host country must also ensure that it lived up to its obligations, including respecting immunities and privileges granted under international law. His delegation supported the suggestion that the issue be referred to the General Assembly, given the Programme's flagrant disrespect for international law. The Programme should not be implemented until all questions regarding its legality were resolved. As of this afternoon, the Mexican Mission had not yet been notified as to exactly where its two assigned parking spaces were located.

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DICKY FABRIAN (Indonesia) said the Committee had deliberated at length on the content of the New York City Diplomatic Parking Programme, and it was disappointing to note that the host country had not responded positively to the many requests that the Programme be suspended until an agreeable solution could be reached. He supported the resolution that the matter be taken up by the General Assembly, as suggested by the representatives of France and the Russian Federation.

OK SOCHEAT (Cambodia) said he would like to congratulate the Legal Counsel on his important, clear and precise opinion. He believed that the New York City Parking Programme ran counter to international law and that the host country absolutely must abide by the Headquarters Agreement. The Programme could also create a bad precedent for the diplomatic community. The removal of license plates from diplomatic vehicles ran counter to international law, and the Programme impinged on the freedom of expression of diplomats. The Parking Programme was diametrically opposed to international law. A solution must be found through other means.

HANS CORRELL, United Nations Legal Counsel, said that he had fulfilled his duty as Legal Counsel based on an objective understanding of international law and had given advice as best as he could. Many delegation had expressed their support for that advice. Normally, he did not answer questions put by delegations, but one question was factual in nature -- and the answer was that the Headquarters Agreement was signed by the United States Secretary of State and the Secretary-General on 26 June 1947.

As a representative of the Secretary-General, he had listened to the debate with grave concern, he said. Delegations had shown an openness in discussing the subject. Now, it seemed that the matter would take another course. It was up to the members of the Committee to decide on that course. However, he said he would like to appeal to the host country to delay the implementation of the Programme, based on three observations.

First, he said, it appeared that the Programme was not ready to be implemented. For the system to work it must be justifiable, and it was in the interests of all parties that when the Programme was launched it should be functioning appropriately. Second, there were several practical issues that needed to be discussed, and the representative of the host country seemed ready to discuss those practical issues. Third, the Committee could solve the issue and the issue could be solved if a few more days were given to find a solution. It would be beneficial for all if a short window of opportunity could be created to allow time for further discussion.

The Chairman then suspended the meeting at 5:27 p.m. for twenty minutes.

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Following the suspension, Mr. MOLLER (United States) said he had listened quite intently to the points raised today. Some were disturbing, particularly statements regarding signs not in place. His support of the Programme was based on the fact that New York City would meet its part of the Agreement. He proposed the possibility of a meeting to discuss the matter with the City and the State Department. However, he could not agree to delay the implementation of the Programme.

Mr. LEGAL (France) thanked the representative of the host country for his efforts to find a solution to the question. Now, the General Assembly must be able to take a stand on the legal aspects of the question. The Committee should recommend that the General Assembly resume, as a matter of urgency, its consideration of the item on its agenda relating to the report by the Committee in order to take up the question of the parking of diplomatic vehicles. An additional phrase could be added stating that it was understood that if, within a week, the Mission of the host country was able to indicate that the entry into force of the New York City Parking Programme had been deferred, then the General Assembly's consideration of the question should likewise be deferred.

Mr. ZMEEVSKI (Russian Federation) said his delegation firmly supported the proposal made by the representative of France.

Mr. SANCHEZ (Spain) said his delegation fully supported the proposal made by the representative of France, especially considering that New York City's part of the Parking Programme had not been fully worked out. The recommendation showed a flexibility not shown by the host country.

Mr. AYOUB (Iraq) said his delegation supported the proposal put forward by the representative of France.

Mr. PINEDA ESPINOZA (Honduras) said he supported the proposal made by the representative of France.

Mr. N'DRY (Cote D'Ivoire) said his delegation supported the proposal made by the French delegation, including the last element mentioned.

Ms. CASTRO DE BARISH (Costa Rica) said her delegation was also obliged to the representative of the host country for the efforts to bring about a postponement of the implementation of the Parking Programme. However, the French proposal was the most apt to deal with the issue.

Mr. MOLLER (United States) requested additional time before a vote in order to receive instructions.

Mr. WANG (China) said the proposal made by the representative of France was flexible and cooperative, and his delegation fully supported it.

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Mr. HOLMES (Canada) said his delegation did not have instructions on the vote and requested time before taking action on the proposal.

CONSTANTINE MOUSHOUTAS (Cyprus) said his delegation also supported the French proposal.

The Chairman NICOS AGATHOCLEOUS (Cyprus) said that the proposal for more time implied a meeting for tomorrow, which also implied the need for a conference room and translation. He put it to the Committee if the requests for more time made by the two delegations should be granted.

Mr. LEGAL (France) said that if the Secretariat said that it was possible for the Committee to meet again tomorrow, then, out of courtesy, the two delegations should be granted more time.

Ms. WILMSHURST (United Kingdom) said she would much rather see the matter dealt with in the Committee and not see it go to the General Assembly. She hoped that in the day ahead, good counsel would prevail and the matter would be solved.

The CHAIRMAN said he was advised that a room had been secured for 3 p.m. tomorrow, and suspended the meeting until Tuesday.

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