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America and the South Pacific, and although this airline will compete with the jointly owned and operated British Commonwealth Pacific Airlines, New welcomed Canada's decision to become a member of the Council as a means of furthering British Commonwealth co-operation in the field of aviation. At this meeting a resolution was adopted to provide liaison between the Council and the South Pacific Commission. The South Pacific Commission had decided on a works programme which included the project to collect information on existing sea and air transport services in the South Pacific and to analyse further needs and suggestions for the improvement of these services, and it is essential that co-operation be established between the two bodies. Some difficulty has been experienced in the past in dealing with policy questions concerning the joint operating organizations due to the fact that the United Kingdom Ministry of Civil Aviation did not have a representative in either Australia or New Zealand. It is satisfactory to note, therefore, that the United Kingdom intends to appoint a suitable representative who will be available for consultation with the Australian and New Zealand authorities whenever required, 11. The Inter-governmental Maritime Consultative Organization (IMCO) The second session of the Preparatory Committee of the IMCO was held at Lake Success on 30 November and 1 December, 1948. New Zealand has not ratified the convention establishing IMCO and was not represented at the Preparatory Committee's second session, which was mainly concerned with administrative problems pending the coming into force of the permanent Organization. 12. The International Telecommunications Union (ITU) New Zealand ratified, on 8 July, 1948, the convention establishing the International Telecommunications Union, and the year under review has been one of transition from the outmoded regime of the Madrid Convention, 1932, to the more modern organization established by the Atlantic City Convention of 1947. It is essential for New Zealand that international telecommunications should be organized on a sound basis, and although most of the work done in connection with the ITU is of a technical nature and outside the scope of the External Affairs Department, a close study is made of all developments affecting the Government's external policy. The Provisional Frequency Board, entrusted with the task of preparing a new international frequency list, began its work at Geneva on 15 January, 1948, and continued throughout the year under review.