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Establishment of Technical Committees On the 28th February, 1945, the Central Milk Council, by resolution, invited the following persons, under the chairmanship of Dr. Muriel Bell, to become members of the Advisory Technical Committee: — Dr. Helen Deem, Medical Adviser to the Plunket Society. Dr. Elizabeth Gregory, Dean of the Home Science Faculty, Otago University. Dr. G-. Moir, Dairy Chemist, Department of Agriculture Laboratory, "Wallaceville, Wellington. Dr. M. L. Edson, Associate Professor in Bio-chemistry and Travis Trust Fellow for Research in Tuberculosis, Medical School, Dunedin. Mr. O. H. Keys, Analyst, Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, Dunedin. Mr. J. Sargent, B.Sc, Dairy Research Institute, Palmerston North. This Committee met at Dunedin on the 15th April, 1945, and subsequently presented a full report with detailed recommendations in respect of quality standards for town milk. The Committee recommended the desirability of making a survey of the laboratory facilities available in the four main centres in order to discover what bacteriological tests were suitable and practicable to determine the daily quality of town milk. This survey has already been undertaken by Dr. G. Moir, and as soon as practicable adequate milk testing facilities, where necessary, will be installed in all major milk treatment plants. Supervision of National Standards relating to Milk Production, Treatment, and Distribution: Division of Responsibility as between the ' Departments of Health and Agriculture After full consideration of the major factors involved, the Central Milk Council recommended to the Government, in December, 1946, that the division of responsibility for-the maintenance of national standards for milk production, treatment, and distribution as between the Departments of Health and Agriculture should be determined as follows: (1) The Department of Agriculture to be solely responsible for the supervision and maintenance of adequate production standards on all town milk farms—this included milk-shed registration and all farm inspection: (2) In regard to town milk produced by producer-vendors, or producers supplying direct to vendors, the supervision of the Department of Agriculture to extend only to the farm-gate. Thereafter from this point to the consumer the responsibility for supervision to rest with the Department of Health: (3) In respect of milk produced and delivered to treatment houses or central depots, the supervision of the Department of Agriculture to extend beyond the farm-gate and to the point of delivery ex the plant to vendors for distribution. Thereafter the responsibility \ to be assumed by the Department of Health to the point of consumption. These proposals were subsequently endorsed by the Ministers of Health and Agriculture.

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