2-3 August 1988, Toronto
2. Sanctions
The Committee had before it two Reports prepared pursuant to its decisions at Lusaka.
A. Impact of Sanctions
The first was an Interim Report on the Evaluation of the Application and Impact of Sanctions against South Africa prepared by an Expert Study Group pursuant to Terms of Reference agreed by the Committee at Lusaka with a view to widening, tightening and intensifying economic and other sanctions. The Committee noted the conclusions of the Interim Report that trade sanctions are having a discernible impact on South Africa, that its economy is coming under pressure and that the impact of sanctions will be enhanced if the sanctions themselves are more widely adopted and their application intensified and tightened. Within this context, the Committee agreed on an action plan of individual and concerted démarches on countries which have so far not adopted Commonwealth measures, or whose trade practices in relation to South Africa are tending to diminish the impact of Commonwealth sanctions.
With a view to intensifying and tightening the application of sanctions already agreed, the Committee invited Commonwealth and other Governments to consider adopting the following measures as recommended in the Interim Report:
(a) to press other countries to adopt the Commonwealth trade bans, priority attention being given to coal;
(b) to implement procedures for stricter customs scrutiny and give higher priority to investigating sanctions violations;
(c) to provide, where necessary by legislation, for heavier penalties for those violating sanctions, including publicising of violations and the consequent penalties;
(d) to prohibit technology transfer that is designed to enable South Africa to circumvent existing sanctions, particularly in the areas of arms, oil and computers;
(e) to clarify the definition of agricultural products in order to reinforce the scope of the ban of agricultural products from South Africa;
(f) to undertake to increase publicity and information about companies which continue to trade with South Africa, in violation of agreed sanctions; and
(g) to permit orderly actions of local authorities, private sector groups and individuals in demonstrating their abhorrence of apartheid.
Additionally, the Committee asked the Secretary-General to publish the statistical tables on South Africa's trade prepared by the Expert Study Group. The Committee looked forward to the early submission of the experts' final report in the New Year.
B. Financial Links
The second Report was that prepared on behalf of the Committee by officials of the Governments of Australia, Canada, and India on South Africa's relationship with the international financial system with a view to exploring the possibilities of effective action against South Africa in this area. The Committee's conclusions on this Report are set out in the Annex to this Statement which was separately released by the Committee during its Meeting. The Committee agreed that in the light of its conclusions it would be desirable to make the Report available to all Commonwealth Governments and to the wider international community.
C. Propaganda Against Sanctions
The Committee recognised that Pretoria's fear of sanctions was leading to a concerted campaign supported by massive financial resources to convince Western countries that black South Africans were opposed to sanctions. The Committee recognised that this was itself an admission by Pretoria of the effectiveness of sanctions. Its deliberations also confirmed throughout the Committee's view that black South Africans continued to look principally to sanctions as the international community's most necessary form of pressure on Pretoria for peaceful change. The Committee, therefore, believed it to be a paramount need to counteract South African propaganda that sanctions are opposed by blacks because it hurts them. In this regard, it agreed that it was specially important for the authentic voices of black South Africans, particularly of black trade unionists, to reach the outside world.