The Anti-Defamation League of B’nai B’rith and The Business Roundtable, an organization of leading American business executives, have agreed “in principle” with the need for a national law to deal with the Arab boycott’s effect on American companies.
A joint statement listing four principles for such a law was sent Friday by Burton M. Joseph, ADL’s national chairman, and Irving S. Shapiro, the Roundtable’s chairman, to President Carter, the Secretaries of State, Treasury and Commerce and to members of Congress dealing with antiboycott legislation.
PRINCIPLES RECOMMENDED
The principles recommended are: No American may discriminate against another American on the basis of race, religion, sex, ethnic or national origin “in order to comply with, further or support a foreign boycott.” ; no one may provide information on an American’s “race, religion, sex, ethnic or national origin, or presence or absence on a blacklist for the use of a foreign country, its nationals, or residents in order to comply with further or support a foreign boycott.”
Also, no American “may refrain from doing business with or in a foreign country, or with its nationals or residents pursuant to agreement with another foreign country, its nationals or residents in order to comply with, further or support a foreign boycott; and no American can refuse to do business with another American in compliance with an agreement with a foreign country or individual in order to comply with the boycott.”
The two groups also agreed that legislation should not bar American from complying with foreign regulations including the listing of documents stating country of origin of a product as long as this does not include a statement “in negative, blacklisting or similar exclusionary terms.”
The statement resulted from a meeting between the two groups on Jan, 28 and its approval by their policy bodies last week. The ADL noted that during the discussions it consulted with the American Jewish Congress and the American Jewish Committee so that its position would reflect their views too. All three groups have been concerned with the boycott problem.
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