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standards. In each case the committee has obtained reports from special panels of technical officers appointed from the Departments most interested in the particular items. .Priority has been given to electrical goods and housing materials. It is intended that standard specifications published in the Government Purchasing Series should, in due course, be referred to representative committees for review and inclusion in the regular series of New Zealand standard specifications. The development of standard specifications as a basis for Government purchasing is in accord with the recommendations of the British Commonwealth Standards Conference held in 1946, and is also recognized as a cardinal principle of public purchasing, as shown in the report for the year 1937-38. Naval Victualling Stores. —The Navy Department has also requested the preparation •of standard specifications for victualling stores for the Royal New Zealand Navy, and a sub-committee has been set up to review the existing Navy specifications, in relation to New Zealand conditions, with a view to including them in the Government Purchasing Series. This course of action corresponds with action that is being taken in other countries, notably the U.S.A., to avoid the inconvenience, serious delays, and general loss which result from the use of a separate series of specifications by each defence authority, which, in turn, are frequently immaterially different from civil specifications for the same commodities. DOMESTIC COMMODITY STANDARDIZATION Furniture Household Furniture Committee .. .. .. .. One meeting. Household Furniture Executive Committee .. .. .. Two meetings. Government Office Furniture Committee .. .. .. Three meetings. Household Furniture. —To enable the Standard Mark to be used on children's cots and play-pens, the Household Furniture Committee extended the provisions of the Standard Specification to cover these items. It also made some minor amendments to render some of the detail provisions more effective. Government Office Furniture. —Acting under the sponsorship of the Public Service Commission, the Government Office Furniture Committee has drafted a standard specification for desks for Government offices, which is to be circulated to all Departments for comment. Attention has also been given to the question of an improved chair design that will be conducive to better posture, reduced fatigue, and increased efficiency. Textiles Sectional Committee (One meeting) Textiles Testing Committee .. .. .. .. One meeting. Underwear Sizes Committee .. .. .. .. Two meetings. Parent Committee.—The Textiles Sectional Committee considered the reports of the committees working under its direction, and reviewed two draft British standards. A proposal from the International Organization for Standardization to formulate an international definition for rayon was also considered, and a sub-committee was set up to report concerning the definitions current in New Zealand and to advise the originating body. Textiles Testing.—Advice has been received from the International Organization for Standardization of proposals, made by the American Standards Association, for international agreement on methods for testing textiles, taking the American Society for Testing Materials' methods as a basis. Comments prepared by the appropriate sub-committee have been forwarded, to the International Organization for Standardization expressing New Zealand's views concerning American Society for Testing Materials'

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