I.W.T.O. to meet here

Press, 24 April 1980, Page 12

I.W.T.O. to meet here

This is the symbol for the conference of the International Wool Textile Organisation, which will be held in Christchurch from April 27 to May 1 next year. The design of a suitable symbol was accepted as a class project by the School of Design at the Wellington Polytechnic and Mr H. Hapi submitted the winning design out of 15 entrants. The conference, which will be based at the Town Hall, will be the first occasion that the IWTO has met in New Zealand. Its conference this year will be held in Monaco from June 8 to 11 and the organisers of the New Zealand conference hope to then have in delegates’ hands a brochure about the Christchurch conference and New Zealand.

The organisation was officially launched in Bradford on November 29, 1929, during a conference attended by wool textile representatives from 10 European countries. That meeting adopted a written constitution and elected Maurice Dubrulle, of France, as its first presi” dent.

The primary function of IWTO in its early days was to provide arbitration services for international wool trade transactions and from a New ealand point of view the role of the organisation in regulataing the international

wool trade and ensuring the functioning of international arbitration agreements remains of great importance. The organisation is, therefore, much involved with methods for testing yarns and cloths and therefore New Zealand interests have to spend much time ensuring that testing methods that apply to New Zealand wools are acceptable.

The organisation consists of representatives of people involved in the manufacturing, processing, merchandising, spinning and weaving of wool and allied fibres within the framework of the private enterprise system. Membership is by country and in New Zealand the National Committee of New Zealand Wool Interests was formed in 1968 to become, a member of the organisation. It" chairman is at present Mr M. E, Moss, of Christchurch, and its secretary, Mr B. P. Hill, who is convener of the steering committee for next year’s conference.

A series of committees, s u b-committees and groups will be meeting during the conference, which will culminate in a general assembly or plenary session. The Wool Board’s information service says that reports from London indicate a considerable interest from members of the world’s wool textile industry in attending the meeting in New Zealand. According to Mr Martin Black, the editor of “Wool Record,” a leading wool textile magazine, industry leaders in the United Kingdom and the Continent have already indic-

ated their intention to attend.

Mr Black will be coming to cover the meeting along with leading textile correspondents, Mr Chris Holland, of the “Telegraph,” and Mr Geoff Sampson, of the “Yorkshire Post.” There are 23 member countries of the organisation and the maximum possible attendance at such a meeting would be about 400, but it is hoped that about 300 will come to Christchurch.