[Senate Executive Report 106-20]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
106th Congress Exec. Rpt.
SENATE
2d Session 106-20
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PROTOCOL AMENDING THE 1950 CONSULAR CONVENTION WITH IRELAND
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September 29, 2000.--Ordered to be printed
_______
Mr. Helms, from the Committee on Foreign Relations,
submitted the following
R E P O R T
[To accompany Treaty Doc. 106-43]
The Committee on Foreign Relations, to which was referred
the Protocol Amending the 1950 Consular Convention Between the
United States of America and Ireland, signed at Washington on
June 16, 1998 (Treaty Doc. 106-43), having considered the same,
reports favorably thereon with the declaration and proviso
indicated below, and recommends that the Senate give its advice
and consent to the ratification thereof as set forth in this
report and the accompanying resolution of ratification.
CONTENTS
Page
I. Purpose..........................................................1
II. Summary..........................................................1
III. Entry Into Force and Termination.................................3
IV. Committee Action.................................................3
V. Committee Recommendation and Comments............................4
VI. Text of Resolution of Ratification...............................4
I. Purpose
The 1950 bilateral consular convention between the United
States and Ireland exempts diplomatic and consular personnel
from taxation in the receiving state subject to several
exceptions. The Protocol would eliminate two of these
exceptions.
II. Summary
A. GENERAL
Prior to the negotiation of the Vienna Convention on
Diplomatic Relations (23 UST 3227; TIAS 7502) in 1961, the
privileges and immunities of diplomatic officials and personnel
were well established in customary international law and
generally honored in State practice. That was not the case with
respect to consular officers and personnel. Customary
international law regarding their status, privileges, and
immunities at that time was fragmentary and uncertain. As a
consequence, the establishment of consular relations between
States depended largely on the negotiation of bilateral
agreements. Many consular agreements, including the agreement
with Ireland, included a provision that diplomats would not
receive less favorable treatment than consular officers
received under the particular agreement.
The Vienna Convention on Consular Relations (21 UST 77;
TIAS 6820) was negotiated in 1963 and provided a detailed
international legal framework for consular relations. The
Convention also eliminated the need to negotiate separate
bilateral agreements on consular relations by providing that
consent to the establishment of diplomatic relations between
States would also constitute consent to the establishment of
consular relations, unless otherwise stated by the Parties
(Article 2(2)). But in recognition of the numerous bilateral
agreements concerning consular relations that already existed,
Article 73 of the Convention provided that ``[t]he provisions
of the present Convention shall not affect other international
agreements in force as between States parties to them.'' In
addition, Article 73 allowed new consular agreements to be
negotiated: ``Nothing in the present Convention shall preclude
States from concluding international agreements confirming or
supplementing or extending or amplifying the provisions
thereof.''
Thus, the United States continues to have bilateral
consular agreements with a number of states, even when both the
United States and the other state are also Parties to the
Vienna Convention. In the United States' view, if the bilateral
agreement and the Vienna Conventions address the same subject
matter, the more generous provision controls.
Ireland and the United States are Parties to the Vienna
Conventions as well as the 1950 bilateral Consular Convention.
These Conventions provide a number of exemptions from taxes as
well as a number of exceptions to the exemptions. Ireland
interprets some of the key tax provisions of the Vienna
Conventions more restrictively than does the United States.
Thus, in order to provide the United States broader tax
exemption, it was necessary for Ireland to conclude an
agreement with the United States.
B. KEY PROVISIONS
The 1950 bilateral agreement affords consular personnel and
diplomats (but not their families) an exemption from ``all
taxes or other similar charges of any kind which are or may be
imposed or collected by the receiving state, or by any state,
province, municipality, or other local subdivision thereof''
(Article 13(4)). That exemption is subject to several
exceptions, including the two that are the subject of the
Protocol.
Article 13(5)(a) of the Consular Convention limits the tax
exemption to those for which the officer or employee is
personally liable and provides that it does not extend to taxes
for which someone else is legally liable, notwithstanding that
the burden of such a tax is passed on to the consular officer
or employee.
Article 13(5)(b)(iv) of the Consular Convention, in turn,
excepts from the exemption ``taxes on transactions or
instruments effecting transactions, such as taxes on the sale
or transfer of money or property, or stamp duties imposed or
collected in connection therewith * * *.''
The Protocol would eliminate these exceptions. Articles 1
and 2 provide generally that the Convention can be extended to
include relief from the taxes for which Sec. Sec. (5)(a) and
(5)(b)(iv) of Article 13 of the bilateral agreement impose
liability.
Article 3 provides that the Embassy and career Consulates
of the United States in Ireland ``shall be exempt from or be
refunded all identifiable national, regional and municipal
taxes whether or not incorporated in the price of goods or
services supplied for official use.'' Article 3 also provides
that an identical exemption applies to U.S. diplomatic agents
and administrative and technical staff of the Embassy, consular
officers and employees, and the members of their families
forming part of their households. The exemption extends not
only to goods or services supplied for official use but also to
those supplied for personal use.
Article 3 further provides reciprocal exemptions to Ireland
regarding ``federal, state and municipal taxes on the purchase
or sale of goods and services supplied for official use'' and,
in the case of individuals, for personal use as well.
Article 4 states that the Parties ``agree that a special
reciprocal administrative arrangement will apply in respect of
relief of taxation on motor vehicles.''
Article 5 denotes that the Protocol does not ``prejudice''
the positions of either the United States or Ireland regarding
their interpretations of the Vienna Conventions on diplomatic
and consular relations and, further, that the tax exemption
granted by the United States under the Protocol has ``the same
scope as the grant of tax exemption accorded by the United
States in implementation of the said Vienna Conventions.''
III. Entry Into Force and Denunciation
A. ENTRY INTO FORCE
The Protocol will enter into force 30 days after
notification by both Parties that their ``domestic requirements
for its entry into force have been completed.''
B. TERMINATION
The Protocol may be terminated by either Party on six
months notice.
IV. Committee Action
The Committee on Foreign Relations held a public hearing on
the proposed Protocol on September 12, 2000, (a transcript of
the hearing and questions for the record can be found in Senate
hearing 106-660 entitled, ``Consideration of Pending
Treaties''). The Committee considered the proposed Protocol on
September 27, 2000, and ordered it favorably reported by voice
vote, with the recommendation that the Senate give its advice
and consent to the ratification of the proposed Protocol
subject to the declaration and proviso noted below.
V. Committee Recommendation and Comments
The Committee on Foreign Relations recommends favorably the
proposed Protocol. The Committee believes that the proposed
Protocol is in the interest of the United States and urges the
Senate to act promptly to give its advice and consent to
ratification.
VI. Text of the Resolution of Ratification
Resolved, (two thirds of the Senators present concurring
therein), That the Senate advise and consent to the
ratification of the Protocol Amending the 1950 Consular
Convention Between the United States of America and Ireland,
signed at Washington on June 16, 1998 (Treaty Doc. 106-43),
subject to the declaration of subsection (a) and the proviso of
subsection (b).
(a) Declaration.--The Senate's advice and consent is
subject to the following declaration, which shall be binding
upon the President:
Treaty Interpretation.--The Senate affirms the
applicability to all treaties of the constitutionally
based principles of treaty interpretation set forth in
Condition (1) of the resolution of ratification of the
INF Treaty, approved by the Senate on May 27, 1988, and
Condition (8) of the resolution of ratification of the
Document Agreed Among the States Parties to the Treaty
on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe, approved by the
Senate on May 14, 1997.
(b) Proviso.--The resolution of ratification is subject
to the following proviso, which shall not be included in the
instrument of ratification:
Supremacy of the Constitution.--Nothing in this
Protocol requires or authorizes legislation or other
action by the United States of America that is
prohibited by the Constitution of the United States as
interpreted by the United States.