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the Court. It is most desirable that any such questions should as far as possible be settled through the medium of whatever coordinating machinery is set up by the United Nations and the specialized agencies rather than that they should be referred to the Court. " It is, however, felt strongly that in the matter of access to the Court the position of FAO is parallel to that of ILO. During the negotiation of the Draft Agreement, the spokesman for ESC justified the preferential treatment which they proposed to give the ILO on two grounds : (1) the historical position of ILO, and (2) that the Labour Organization had negotiated and was responsible for international action in regard to a large number of labour conventions. In regard to the first point, the responsibilities of FAO and its terms of reference are as wide and important as those of ILO. In regard to the second point, FAO will undoubtedly find it necessary to negotiate many conventions, and provision is made for this in the Constitution, Article IV, paragraph 3 : " ' The Conference may by a two-thirds majority of the votes cast submit conventions concerning questions relating to food and agriculture to member nations for consideration with a view to their acceptance by the appropriate constitutional procedure.' " The type of international conventions which may be negotiated through FAO and submitted to member nations will be concerned with undertakings by governments in regard to raising of national levels of nutrition and standards of living, improvement of agricultural production and distribution, and betterment of the condition of rural populations. Any such convention must operate nationally and therefore will be analogous to many of the labor conventions. " International conventions for the regulation of fisheries either to avoid disputes or to promote the conservation of marine resources are also important and fall within the terms of reference of FAO. "As a result of the absorption by FAO of the functions of the International Institute of Agriculture, FAO has, as from 1 August, taken over responsibility for a number of conventions, namely : " Convention for Locust Control. " Convention for Plant Protection. " Convention concerning Marking of Eggs in International Commerce. " Convention for the Standardization of Methods of Cheese Analysis. " Convention on the Standardization of the Methods of Analyzing Wines. " Convention for the Standardization of Methods of Keeping and Utilizing Herd Books. " If FAO is not given general authorization similar to that proposed for ILO to refer to the Court questions or disputes concerning any international convention adopted under Article IV of its Constitution, then matters affecting nutrition, agriculture, fisheries, forestry, and rural welfare will not be given the same international status as matters affecting labor relations." 4. To instruct the Director-General to sign an agreement in these terms upon approval, by the General Assembly of the United Nations. If the General Assembly of the United Nations should not concur in