as soon as possible so as to allow Member-States to study that 

 document before the opening date of the Sixth Session of the 

 Commissiono 



It was subsequently agreed that the drafting group's work 

 would take the form of a Bureau recommendation. During 

 discussion of the draft recommendation prepared by the 

 small drafting group, it became evident that the members of 

 the Bureau and Consultative Council fully recognized the 

 utility of having an Interagency Committee established in 

 order to facilitate the activities of the IOC and to coordi- 

 nate joint support of these activities by "che interested 

 agencies of the UN System. It was clarified in the course 

 of discussion that this Committee should be a Committee for 

 the IOC and not a Committee _of the IOC; in other words, that 

 it should be a Committee established by the agencies themselves 

 and not an organ of the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Com- 

 mission. Vice Admiral Rassokho (USSR) stated that he would 

 like the name of this Interagency Committee somewhat toned 

 down and broadened in such a way as to include an indication 

 of the Committee's main purpose. It was agreed to recommend 

 that the interagency body be called the Interagency Panel 

 for the Support of the IOC. It was further agreed that the 

 Interagency Panel should be composed of senior representa- 

 tives of the agencies concerned and the IOC Chairman. 



The Chairman then presented the draft of an indicative state- 

 ment on the outline of the scope of the long-term and expanded 

 program of research and exploration of the oceans and their 

 resources, as prepared by the small drafting group established 

 during the earlier discussion of UN Resolution 24l4 (XXIII). 

 A long discussion followed during which the delegates of 

 France, Federal Republic of Germany, United States, Canada, 

 USSR, Japan and United Kingdom, as well as Representatives 

 of SCOR and ACMRR, the Chairman of the IOC and Rep resent at ives 

 of UNESCO and FAO exchanged their views on various desirable 

 additions and amendments to the indicative statement prepared. 

 A revised draft was prepared, and the drafting group presented 

 the results of its revised work in the form of a draft letter 

 to the Secretary-General of the United Nations and a set of 

 questions directed to the joint SCOR/ACMRR/WMO Group of Experts 

 which will meet at Ponza (Italy) in April - May 19^9 ■> The 

 Bureau approved the text of the draft letter to be sent by 

 the Chairman of the Commission to the Secretary-General of 

 the United Nations concerning the outline of the scope of the 

 long-term and expanded program of oceanographic research and 

 the set of questions directed to the advisory bodies of the 

 Commission in connection with the content of this program (see 

 Recommendation 9«6). The text of the letter, as agreed to by 

 the Bureau and Consultative Council, is as follows: 



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