,. C. Membership 7. As proposed by the respective Governments, the Committee, at its lOth meetlng, on 1 August 1983, unanimously approved the appolntment of Ms. Lucy Smith of Norway to serve as a member of the Committee for the remainder of Ms. Surlien's term and Ms. Farlda Abou BI-Fetouh of Egypt to be a member of the Committee for the remainder of Ms. Tallawy's term. The curriculum vitae of the two nominees had been clrculated to the experts. 14. A provis 1 2 3 D. Solemn declaration by the new members of the Committee 4 Upon assuming their duties as members of the Committee, the two newly-appolnted experts, Ms. Smith and Ms. EI-Fetouh, made the solemn declaration provided for under rule 10 of the rules of procedure. 8. 5 6 E. Attendance 7 9. All members attended the second session of the Committee except the experts from China and Sri Lanka who had sent cables to the Secretarlat excusing thenlselves. 10. With regard to the expert from Cuba, a member of the Commlttee stated that she had been informed that the Government of the United States of America had not issued a Vlsa to the expert from Cuba. The Secretariat was requested by the Committee to lnqulre lnto the situatlon and take the necessary steps to enable the Cuban expert to attend the session of the Committee. The Cuban expert arrived for and was present at the Committee's 16th meeting. She 8xplained that the visa had been sought since 18 July 1983 and that all procedures had been followed, both through diplomatic channels and through the United Nations resident representative's office, with no results. The visa had been granted only on 3 August 1983, after the opening of the Committee's second session. She thanked the Chairperson and the Representative of the Secretary~ General, as well as the members of the Committee, for their concern. 11. 12. At the 17th meeting, the Representative of the Secretary-General read out the provisions contained in the Host Country Agreement, provided by the Office of the Legal Counsel, relating to the granting of visas, which stated specifically that the host country would not impose any impediment on travel or transit to the Headquarters of the United Nations in New York. It was explained that provision~ concerning delays were not stipulated in the said agreement and that the host country required approximately 15 working days to process visa applications. The above was contained in section 11 of the agreement between the United Nations and the United States of America, signed on 26 June 1947 at Lake Success. 13. The expert from Cuba stated that, to the best of her knowledge, she had complied with her obligations and that the visa had been requested on time. A representative of the Government of the United States of America, who was present at the meeting, was permitted to spedk. He reiterated that the Representative of the Secretary-General had stated earlier, and explained that he unaerstood the disappointment of th~ expert from Cuba and that both he and his Government would continue to honour their obligatlons and regretted any delay or inconvenience caused to the expert from Cuba. -2- 8