European timber production to meet the severe shortage. A Joint Working Party on which FAO has three members has been set up by the Economic Commission for Asia and the Far East to determine the equipment and materials needed for expanded production in that region. FAO will also have two members on the Joint Working Party which will be set up by the Economic Commission for Latin America to survey the economy of the region and determine what equipment and materials are needed for expansion. With other international agencies a network of co-operation is developing. At its sixth session the Economic and Social Council focused attention on the continuing world food crisis and took steps to bring about coordinated action by the specialized agencies in alleviating it. FAO will report to the Council on what has been done and recommend further action. FAO has worked hand-in-hand with the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund throughout the year, and is establishing close working relations with the World Health Organization. On technical matters —statistics and economic studies, for examplethere is day-to-day co-operation with United Nations units and with other specialized agencies, such as the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the International Monetary Fund. Collaboration with various intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations outside the United Nations is also increasing. Work in the regional offices has been clarified by establishing principles which will govern their organization. Main objects are to ensure centralized policy and programme making at the headquarters of FAO, but decentralized operation of programmes in the regions. A regional representative, directly responsible to the Director-General, will have charge of actual operations in each region. Technical workers will be sent to the region for temporary periods from FAO headquarters as they are needed but will remain attached to their Divisions and on the headquarters pay-roll. The nucleus of a regional office for the Near East was established in Cairo during the year. In Europe, the work of the regional office at Rome has been supplemented by FAO activities at Geneva, the centre for co-operation with ECE. An interim appointment of a regional representative for the Far East will be made soon, and a regional representative will likewise be appointed for Latin America. General and regular services to Governments, unsensational but indispensable, are crystallizing into more definite patterns as needs become clearer and experience shows what can and cannot be done with the funds available. In particular, the year has seen some notable publications in international statistics—a "Yearbook of Food and Agricultural Statistics," a " Yearbook of International Trade in Agricultural Commodities," a " Yearbook of Forest Products Statistics," and a pioneering international " Yearbook of Fisheries Statistics," the first ever to be compiled. Publication of statistical bulletins for agriculture, forestry, and fisheries was also begun. A number of technical studies in fields of interest to all or most FAO member nations have been published. A full-scale consultation on the world food situation and the programmes of member Governments for the next year will be the principal business •of the 1948 FAO Conference, to be held in Washington beginning 15 November. The Director-General will present an analysis, " The State of Food and Agriculture, 1948." This, together with the recommendations of the Council of FAO, should provide a basis for policy decisions on urgent issues relating to better use of soil and water resources, increased production from farms, forests, and fisheries, and more effective distribution.

Approximate Cost of Paper.—Preparation, not given ; printing (598 copies), £3O.

By Authority: E. E. Owen, Government Printer, Wellington.—-1949. Price 6d.]