HOST COUNTRY COMMITTEE DISCUSSES NEW DIPLOMATIC PARKING PROGRAMME, SCHEDULED TO TAKE EFFECT ON 1 NOVEMBER

Committee on Relations

with Host Country

213^th Meeting (PM)

HOST COUNTRY COMMITTEE DISCUSSES NEW DIPLOMATIC PARKING PROGRAMME,

SCHEDULED TO TAKE EFFECT ON 1 NOVEMBER

New York City’s new Parking Programme complied with international law, but efforts should be made to ensure it was applied fairly and indiscriminately,

Hans Corell, Under-Secretary-General for Legal Affairs told the Committee on Relations with the Host Country as it met at Headquarters this afternoon.

The diplomatic community should assist the city with its parking situation, but city authorities must respect diplomatic privileges and immunities, said

Mr. Corell, who also acts as United Nations Legal Counsel.  He stressed the importance of training police officers and identifying those with difficulties in applying the Programme correctly.

The representative of the United States said his country and the City of

New York were committed to ensuring that the Programme would be implemented fairly and in a non-discriminatory manner.  The Programme would begin on 1 November, when each Mission would have two parking spaces and 35 delivery spaces, as well as service vehicle and delivery vehicle decals.

He expected that ticketing of diplomatic vehicles would drop considerably, since adequate parking facilities would be available.  Diplomatic and consular cars without decals would no longer be competing for spaces, and discriminatory ticketing would be past history.

Several speakers during the ensuing debate noted that impounding diplomatic vehicles, charging fines for recovering them, and the Host Country’s refusal to renew licence plate registrations for violators were opposed to the 1948 Universal Declaration on Human Rights.  The limited number of parking spaces allocated were inadequate and would force Missions to pay $300 monthly for parking garages, an unaffordable fee for smaller countries.

The representative of Pakistan suggested the two parking spaces provided by the Programme should be in addition to existing parking spaces and that outstanding parking tickets should be written off.  Most tickets issued were contestable, and writing them off would prevent a new administrative burden.

Turkey’s representative said that parking disputes had been portrayed in the media, giving rise to a stereotyped view of the United Nations as an economic burden on New York.  Contrary to that view, the United Nations and the diplomatic community had made a significant contribution to the city’s economic well-being.

Other representatives said the Programme would hamper the ability of Permanent Missions to carry out their work.  Its implementation would lead to onerous financial and administrative burdens.  Several representatives requested an open and frank dialogue in the Committee before the Programme went into effect.

Responding, the representative from the United States said the Programme for the first time provided two unique parking spaces as close as possible to each Mission.  In fact, the number of parking spaces available had risen from 370 to 430, plus 35 additional spaces for delivery vehicles.

Unfortunately, Manhattan could not accommodate spaces for all delegates who chose to commute to their Missions by car, but the new Programme would improve the quality of diplomatic life.  He stressed that all concerns submitted by delegations had been considered in drawing up the Programme, and that it would definitely be in effect on 1 November.

With free parking in the United Nations garage and two additional spaces, he believed the United States was providing full facilities to diplomats.  The Programme did not go against the Host Country Agreement or any other agreement regarding diplomatic immunities and privileges.

At the end of the meeting, the Committee elected Deborah Chatsis as Canada’s representative on the Committee, to replace its current representative and Vice-Chairman, Andras Vamos-Goldman.

Speakers during the debate included Côte d’Ivoire, China, Cuba, Trinidad and Tobago (on behalf of the Group of Latin America and Caribbean States (GRULAC)), Egypt, Russian Federation, Iran, Turkey, Pakistan, Indonesia, Malaysia and Benin.

The Committee will meet again on Tuesday, 29 October, to consider and adopt its report for submission to the Sixth Committee.

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