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Council. The first meeting of the Council, held in March-April, 1947, considered, among other questions, the petition which had been presented to the Government by the Fono of all Samoans in December, 1946, for transmissoin to the Council. This subject, as well as many questions connected with the functioning of the Council, has entailed close study by "the Departments of External Affairs and Island Territories. Closely linked with the Trusteeship Section of the United Nations Charter is Chapter XI of the Charter, which imposes obligations upon those members responsible for the administration of non-self-governing territories. The Department of External Affairs, again in close collaboration with the Department of Island Territories, ensures that New Zealand's obligations in this regard are fulfilled. 5. Subsidiary Organs Though New Zealand is not a member of either body, the proceedings of the Military Staff Committee (a subsidiary organ of the Security Council) and the Atomic Energy Commission (a subsidiary organ of the General Assembly) have been followed with close attention. MISCELLANEOUS INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS 1. International Trade Organization With a view to convening a United Nations Conference on Trade and Employment, and to the possible formation of an International Trade Organization, the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations, in February, 1946, set up a Preparatory Committee, the first session of which commenced in October, 1946. The New Zealand Government, who were in full agreement with the general international objective of expanding employment and world trade, accepted an invitation to membership of the Committee and were represented at the first session by a delegation comprising the Assistant Comptroller of Customs (Mr. J. P. D. Johnsen) and other departmental officials. The report of this session reveals a substantial advance towards the main objective of the ITO conception. Discussions and exchanges by British Commonwealth delegations were a useful preliminary to the Session. A Drafting Committee (on which New Zealand was also represented) was charged with the preparation of a draft Charter for submission to the second session of the Preparatory Committee, and a detailed draft of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, based upon the outline drafted at the first session. The second session of the Preparatory Committee meets in Geneva in April, 1947, on which occasion the New Zealand delegation will be led by the Minister of Finance and Customs, the Right Hon. W. Nash. During March, 1947, preliminary British Commonwealth discussions were conducted in London. Before the commencement of the first session the New Zealand Government set up an Inter-departmental Committee for the purpose of examining the proposals to be submitted to the Preparatory Committee and of ascertaining their effect on a national economy, which, as is the case in New Zealand, is particularly sensitive to external influences. New Zealand's attitude has been to emphasize the need for full employment and a high and steadily rising level of effective demand, and to seek adequate recognition of the varying circumstances of economies in different stages of development. She has also expressed the necessity of maintaining within her own sovereignty her special trade relations with the United Kingdom. 2. International Labour Organization The Hon. D. Wilson led the New Zealand delegation to the twenty-ninth session of the International Labour Conference, held in Montreal from 19th September to 9th October, 1946. Two items on the agenda, one dealing with constitutional matters, the other with dependent territories, were of particular concern to the Department of External Affairs.

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