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“ (2) Promote consistency and co-ordina

tion of agricultural commodity poli

cies, national and international ;

“ (3) Advise on emergency measures such

as those relating to the export and

import of materials or equipment

needed for agricultural production. ” 12

The Preparatory Commission thus intended

the council to deal with all phases of FAO

activity : the emergency short-term measures

for providing needed equipment and supplies,

the longer-term agricultural policies for

development, and the international studies

or agreements made for particular products.

For the first year it is desirable for the

council to be particularly concerned with the

urgent issues raised in the preceding pages.

Some issues present themselves as primarily

regional in character, and the council may

be able to deal with them on that basis with

the assistance of the Governments of the

region and of the regional services which

FAO is organizing. Others are primarily

commodity issues. The council will have to

develop its own procedures to suit the various

phases of its work and the changing situation.

In directing attention to the outstanding

problems of 1947/48, the Geneva Conference

may wish to recommend that the council :

1. Consult with member Governments to

ensure a maximum mobilization of food

for human use in 1947/48, including the

strengthening of food collection and food

economy measures.

2. Undertake on behalf of the Conference

the functions now performed by the IEFC

and continue the international allocation

of food and fertilizers in short supply,

taking over the remaining IEFC Com

modity Committees in order to ensure

continuity.

13 Abbreviated summary. The full version of

the proposed functions of the council may be

found in paragraph 252 of the

Report of the

FAO Preparatory Commission on World Food

Proposals.

3. Take action to accelerate the supply of

materials needed to expand the 1948

harvest, including the co-ordination of

needs and, if necessary, the making of

special arrangements for procurement.

4. Assist member Governments in promot

ing longer-term agricultural and nutri

tional development programmes for in

dividual countries and for regions, and in

regard to the general economic aspects

collaborate with the United Nations and

various specialized agencies.

5. Review agricultural, forestry, and fishe

ries commodity situations and where

necessary promote joint activity among

Governments while maintaining close

contact with the Interim Co-ordinating

Committee.

No doubt in the course of time the council

will develop other important activities, but

these seem to be the ones demanding highest

priority in the coming year.

The council and the annual programme

review should enable Governments to become

closely and continuously associated with the

development of FAO’s work and services and

should make it possible for them to exchange

views on the many and varied issues of food

and agriculture around the world. In the

years immediately ahead, the nations will be

facing difficulties of quite exceptional charac

ter, and it is imperative to develop interna

tional procedures for handling them. The

problems which arise on all sides cannot be

left unsolved. We can no longer afford to be

defeatists about the abolition of poverty and

hunger, because, were we to be defeated in

this, it would be the defeat of civilization.

It is now for the first time possible to devise

programmes fully utilizing the world’s expan

ding productive capacity for the purpose of

meeting people’s needs. Food, clothing, and

shelter are the most basic of those needs and

it will be the responsibility of member

Governments working through FAO to meet

this challenge.

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