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foodstuffs in short supply, and there will probably be many eases in the future, as there have been in the past, where, in the absence of agreement, the matter is, in the last resort, decided by the producing country. There was a disposition amongst a number of delegates to suggest that at a time such as this there should be some paramount authority accorded to the distributing body. It was quite clear there was never at any time a possibility of carrying a resolution giving actual authority to the new Council or to any other body against the will of the producing country, and it was generally recognized that the agreement actually come to, that every country joining this new body should undertake to implement all recommendations " which it has accepted," was, indeed, the utmost that could be achieved. But a special point was made: that members by joining this new organization would be understood to pledge themselves to givei careful and impartial consideration to the problems involved and to accept their full share of the responsibility for meeting the present world crisis. One aspect that was recognized as probably inevitable was this: that as each commodity Committee is in terms of the agreement to include those countries principally concerned, with the production or utilization of that commodity, a considerable expansion of the commodity Committees may be expected. This will no doubt be good in one sense and possibly bad in another, inasmuch as it might tend to make these Committees unwieldy, but it was generally agreed that this risk must be accepted. This raises also the question of the representation of New Zealand on these commodity Committees. Though we hold an outstanding position amongst the world's producers of dairy products and of meat, we are not, for reasons which were good at the time, represented on, the Dairy Committee or the Meat Committee. I entirely agree with your view that in circumstances as they are to-day we should properly be so represented, and the appropriate steps will be taken accordingly. It will be observed that membership of the lEFC is accorded only to those countries represented on commodity Committees. Our qualification for membership rests on the ground of our seat on the Seeds Committee. From the point of view of our membership of the Council, we should have some more broader and more lasting qualification than our membership of the Seeds Committee. But, in any case, I wish to repeat and to stress the fact that, just as was the situation under the Combined Food Board, the new lEFC will have no real powers of enforcement. There can be no allocations other than those voluntarily accepted by its members individually, and with the quite legitimate hesitations of Governments to accept drastic alterations in such matters as normal markets, long-term contracts, bilateral or multilateral agreements, and price factors, it cannot be expected that the new Council will have an easy task to perform. But it does beyond question provide an opportunity for a considerable number of the nations of the world to discuss the proper distribution, during the. present crisis, of those foodstuffs of which there is such tragic shortage. The recommendations of each of the three Committees were approved without substantial alteration at the final plenary session, which was held on Monday, 27 May, and in accordance with the expressed intention all countries represented at the Conference have been invited to attend a meeting of the Combined Food. Board to be held on the 20 June with a view to establishing forthwith the new body recommended by the Conference.

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