The regulations in this part are issued under the authority of Pub. L. 91-269 (84 Stat. 271, 22 U.S.C. 2801 et seq.) which establishes an orderly procedure for Federal Government recognition of, and participation in, international expositions to be held in the United States. The Act provides, inter alia, that Federal recognition of an exposition is to be granted upon a finding by the President that such recognition will be in the national interest. In making this finding, the President is directed to consider, among other factors, a report from the Secretary of Commerce as to the purposes and reasons for an exposition and the extent of financial and other support to be provided by the State and local officials and business and community leaders where the exposition is to be held, and a report by the Secretary of State to determine whether the exposition is qualified for registration under Bureau of International Expositions (BIE) rules. The BIE is an international organization established by the Paris Convention of 1928 (T.I.A.S. 6548 as amended by T.I.A.S. 6549) to regulate the conduct and scheduling of international expositions in which foreign nations are officially invited to participate. The BIE divides international expositions into different categories and types and requires each member nation to observe specified minimum time intervals in scheduling each of these categories and types of expositions. 1 Under BIE rules, member nations may not ordinarily participate in an international exposition unless such exposition has been approved by the BIE. The United States became a member of the BIE on April 30, 1968, upon ratification of the Paris Convention by the U.S. Senate (114 Cong. Rec. 11012).

1 The BIE defines a General Exposition of the First Category as an exposition dealing with progress achieved in a particular field applying to several branches of human activity at which the invited countries are obligated to construct national pavilions. A General Exposition of the Secondary Category is a similar exposition at which invited countries are not authorized to construct national pavilions, but occupy space provided by the exposition sponsors. Special Category Expositions are those dealing only with one particular technique, raw material, or basic need.

The BIE frequency rules require that an interval of 15 years must elapse between General Expositions of the First Category held in one country. General Expositions of the Second Category require an interval of 10 years. An interval of 5 years must ordinarily elapse between Special Category Expositions of the same kind in one country or three months between Special Category Expositions of different kinds. These frequency intervals are computed from the date of the opening of the exposition.

More detailed BIE classification criteria and regulations are contained in the Paris Convention of 1928, as amended in 1948 and 1966. Applicants not having a copy of the text of this convention may obtain one by writing the Director. (The Convention may soon be amended by a Protocol which has been approved by the BIE and ratified by the United States. This amendment would increase authorized frequencies or intervals for BIE approved expositions.)