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APPENDIX I Italian Colonies (Article 17) : Statement by the New Zealand Delegate Mr Chairman, and Fellow Delegates,— The New Zealand amendment on the subject of the Italian colonies is numbered Doc. 1, M. 1. Its main purpose is to place upon the United Nations the responsibility for deciding the ultimate administration of the Italian colonies, and also to ensure that these territories are ceded to the United Nations. In view of the difficulties that have been encountered in the solution of this question, the New Zealand Government advances the amendment as the most logical and practical method of finding a settlement. - We propose to replace the three clauses of Article 17 of the draft treaty, and also the declaration of the Council of Foreign Ministers, by two new clauses and a new declaration. They are brief, and I shall read them : 1. Italy renounces in favour of the United Nations all right and title to the Italian territorial possessions in Africa — i.e., Libya, Eritrea, and Italian Somaliland. 2. Pending a decision by the United Nations upon the future administration of the territories, the territories shall continue under their present administration. Declaration (To be issued separately from the treaty by Allied and Associated Powers) The Allied and Associated Powers hereby declare that they will accept the decision of the General Assembly of the United Nations as to the future administration of the former Italian territorial possessions, and express their view that such decision should accord with the recommendations of the Trusteeship Council. Changes to Draft Treaty In effect, therefore, we ask in these proposals for three changes in the draft treaty. First, the sovereignty of the Italian colonies should be vested in the United Nations. In the present draft the sovereignty is left unsettled. Second, the administration of the colonies will be determined by the United Nations, and not by Four Powers. Third, the Conference should state its view (and we cannot, of course, bind the United Nations) that in deciding upon the administration of the colonies the General Assembly should take the advice of the Trusteeship Council. In our view this amendment should not involve long discussion, because it depends on two clear propositions —should the United Nations be given the sovereignty over the Italian colonies, and should the United Nations decide who should administer them. If the Commission cannot accept these two propositions, then our amendment can quickly be disposed of. I shall first state why the New Zealand Government puts forward this general approach.