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The Milk Act, 1944, also made provision for the establishment of a Milk Marketing Division of the Marketing Department. This Division became the administrative Department for the Central Milk Council, and Mr. W. A. Cowell, Secretary to the Division,, was also appointed Secretary to the Council. Since the Council commenced to function in February, 1945, nineteen meetings have been held to the 31st March, 1947, and the personnel of the Council has remained unchanged. Declaration op Milk Districts and the Establishment op Local Milk Authorities One of the first tasks confronting the Central Milk Council was to secure the definition of appropriate milk districts covering the major areas of consumption throughout the Dominion and to secure as far as possible the effective establishment of a local Milk Authority for each milk district. Section 8 of the Milk Act, 1944, provides that for every milk district there shall be a Milk Authority, which may be a Borough Council or a Metropolitan Milk Board, as may be prescribed by the Governor-General by Order in Council. As at the 31st March, 1947, the following is a schedule of the declared, milk districts and established local authorities:—

Powers and Duties op Local, Milk Authorities The principal function of each Milk Authority is to ensure for the inhabitants of the milk district an adequate supply of milk of a standard of quality not less than the standard for the time being prescribed under the Sale of Food and Drugs Act, 1908.

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Date constituted District. Authority. or Date of First Election. Auckland Metropolitan .. Auckland Metropolitan Milk Board j 15/7/45 \ 14/8/45 /15/7/45 \ 14/8/45 /15/7/45 \ 14/8/45 /20/12/45 \ 23/1/46 /15/7/45 X 14/8/45 24/8/45 Christchurch Metropolitan Christchurch Metropolitan Milk Board Dunedin Metropolitan Dunedin Metropolitan Milk Board Hutt Valley and Bays Metropolita a Hutt Valley and Bays Metropolitan Milk Board.. Palmerston North Metropolitan . Palmerston North Metropolitan Milk Board Ashburton Ashburton Borough Council Balclutha Balclutha Borough Council 14/9/45 Blenheim Blenheim Borough Council 17/8/45 Dannevirke Dannevirke Borough Council 15/7/45 Feilding Feilding Borough Council 15/7/45 Hamilton Hamilton City Council 24/8/45 Hastings Hastings Borough Council 15/7/45 Invercargill Invercargill City Council 7/9/45 Lyttelton Lyttelton Borough Council 1/3/46 Mataura Mataura Borough Council 14/9/45 Mount Maunganui Mount Maunganui Borough Council 15/2/46 Napier Napier Borough Council 24/8/45 Nelson Nelson City Council 14/6/46 Oamaru Oamaru Borough Council 24/8/45 Stratford Stratford Borough Council 24/8/45 Tauranga Tauranga Borough Council 22/3/46 Timaru Timaru Borough Council 17/8/45 Wanganui Wanganui City Council 15/7/45 Whangarei Whangarei Borough Council 15/7/45