telecommunication system. The Africa Plan Committee met in February, and the World Plan Committee met in September together with a working party. The purpose of the Plan Committees is to provide information to members to assist in the organization and improvement of international services. These meetings produced useful work toward this objective.

The Study Groups of the CCIR continued their studies pursuant to the work program for 1974-77 approved by the 13th plenary Assembly of the CCIR in 1974. The CCIR studies and develops recommendations on the technical and operating aspects of all forms of radiocommunications. During 1975 the work was carried

out largely by the member countries, looking toward formal meetings of the Study Groups in 1976. Particular emphasis was placed on preparation of the technical bases for the two World Administrative Radio Conferences that have been scheduled.

The essential function of the IFRB is the technical examination and registration of radio frequency notifications, including those for space satellite telecommunication systems, in order to ensure interference-free radio operations throughout the world. The IFRB and its staff continued to carry out this function fully and effectively.

Technical Assistance

As an executing agency for the UNDP, the ITU assists developing nations in improving their telecommunication capabilities by the establishment and staffing of training institutes; a program of technical telecommunications seminars; and the recruitment of technical experts from developed countries, including the United States, to advise on specific telecommunications projects and to conduct studies in developing countries.

UNIVERSAL POSTAL UNION

During 1975 membership in the UPU remained unchanged at 154 member countries.

The 40-member Executive Council (EC) is the Union's administrative body, and the 35-member Consultative Council for Postal Studies (CCPS) is its technical body. UPU regulations limit EC membership to two consecutive 5-year terms. Since the United States had been an EC member during the interim terms of the Vienna Congress (1965-69) and the Tokyo Congress (1970-74), it was ineligible for membership during the 1975-79 Lausanne Congress term. In its capacity as a Vice Chairman of the CCPS, however, the United States attended the 1975 EC as an observer, without voting rights.

Executive Council

The first EC meeting after the 1974 Lausanne Congress was held in Bern, Switzerland in May 1975. This was principally an organizational meeting concerned with assignment of studies in conformance with resolutions and decisions of the Lausanne Congress; defining EC and International Bureau (the secretariat) work programs; and clarifying the division of responsibilities between the EC and the CCPS. Among the EC studies of particular concern to the United States are those relating to (1) the method of determining the imbalances of mail exchanged between countries and the establishment of a rate formula for fixing terminal dues; (2) an economic study on the structure of the scale of transit mail charges and on the development of land and sea transport rates; (3) the maximization of air conveyance. of mail and revision of basic air mail conveyance rates; (4) the calculation and accounting of internal air conveyance dues; (5) the method to be applied in revision of air mail distances (the present method expires in 1981); and (6) the simplification of the rate structure and conditions for the acceptance of letterpost items.

The EC approved estimated budgets for operating the Union for 1975 (11,610,900 Swiss francs) and for 1976 (12,550,100 Swiss francs).

The UPU Director General reported that the total amount of credits allocated to the UPU for UNDP projects included in the first UNDP programming cycle (1972-76) amounted to $9,626,334, covering 109 projects--80 of them country and 29 of them intercountry--and included the postal part of projects carried out in association with the ITU. The value of UNDP projects administered by the UPU in 1975 alone was estimated at $1,650,000. Nineteen UPU member states and one restricted (regional) postal union pledged 369,194 Swiss francs for postal technical assistance under the UPU Special Fund, a voluntary fund in which the United States does not participate.

In accordance with a resolution of the Lausanne Congress, the EC asked a committee of the UPU's International Bureau to prepare a study of the legal, financial, and practical implications of a possible change in the status of seven groups of nonautonomous territories that presently enjoy UPU membership in their own right. These studies concern proposals to eliminate territorial memberships and would affect memberships in the name of French, Spanish African, United Kingdom, and United States territories, Netherlands Antilles and Surinam, and Portuguese Provinces in West Africa and in East Africa, Asia, and Oceania.

Consultative Council for Postal Studies

The CCPS met in Bern in November 1975. Besides serving as a Vice Chairman, the United States chairs the Council's committee on mechanized and automated processing of letter and parcel post and of postal financial services, and directs 10 of its studies. Among the CCPS studies with special significance for the United States are those concerning computer usage in postal services; standardization of the address location on regular and window envelopes; security of high value items, especially those conveyed by air; the properties of envelopes and items affixed to envelopes as they pertain to the use and effectiveness of Optical Character Reading and Bar Code Reading; containerization of postal items; and the maximization of air conveyance of mails (one of the joint EC/CCPS studies). CCPS studies culminate in the compilation of summary reports and recommendations to the EC or the Congress, which, if adopted, would affect the exchange of international mail.

WORLD METEOROLOGICAL ORGANIZATION

With the accession of Oman, Qatar, North Korea, the Democratic Republic of Viet-Nam, Cape Verde, and Papua New Guinea, the membership of the WMO increased during 1975 to 145 (133 states and 12 territories maintaining their own meteorological services).

The seventh quadrennial Congress of the WMO met in Geneva from April 28 to May 23, 1975. The Congress, in which all members are entitled to participate, is the supreme body of the WMO and is responsible for determining WMO's major program directions and for adopting its budget. The major program decisions of the seventh Congress are summarized below in relation to WMO activities of importance to the United States.

World Weather Watch

The World Weather Watch (WWW), approved in principle by the fourth Congress in 1963, has been in operation since 1967 when a detailed plan was adopted. The central purpose of the WWW is to provide meteorological data on a comprehensive, worldwide basis to improve the domestic weather forecasting systems of member states. The seventh Congress considered and adopted the detailed plan for the WWW during 1976-79 and reaffirmed that it is the basic program of the Organization, providing support for all WMO activities in the field of applications and research.

The Voluntary Assistance Program (VAP) is directly related to the purposes and objectives of the WWW.

Supported by voluntary contributions from WMO members, VAP is essential for filling gaps in the worldwide meteorological network by ensuring the participation of the developing countries. The seventh Congress, while maintaining the essential link between the implementation of WWW and VAP, broadened somewhat the scope of assistance available to include, in addition to the granting of long-term fellowships, (1) activities in the field of hydrology related to the WWW; (2) granting of short-term fellowships for personnel engaged in the WWW activities; and (3) support of short-term training seminars for personnel engaged in WWW activities. During 1975, the United States continued to support VAP, contributing $1.5 million--$150,000 in cash and the remainder in equipment, services, and long-term fellowships.

The seventh Congress also considered the desirability of establishing a system for monitoring the operation of the WWW. Concluding that such a system was indispensable for rapid detection of deficiencies and initiation of remedial action, the Congress requested the WMO Secretary General and the Executive Committee to develop and implement a monitoring program.

Global Atmospheric Research Program

The research arm of the WWW is the Global Atmospheric Research Program (GARP). It was established in 1967 as a joint undertaking of the WMO and the International Council of Scientific Unions. The seventh Congress reviewed the progress of GARP since 1971 and reaffirmed its basic objectives as (1) increased accuracy of weather forecasting for periods of from 1 day to several weeks, and (2) better understanding of the physical basis of climate. The Congress reviewed the successful completion of the field phase of the GARP Atlantic Tropical Experiment (GATE) and provided for the continuation of the data processing and interpretation of this experiment. (GATE involved, over a 3month period in 1974, the taking of meteorological observations by satellites, ships, buoys, aircraft, and land stations of 70 countries over a 20 million square mile area of land and sea from the eastern Pacific Ocean across Latin America, the Atlantic, and Africa, to the western Indian Ocean.) The Congress also approved the planning for the First GARP Global Experiment (FGGE) which will build on the experience of GATE and will be the first attempt to obtain, process, and analyze a truly adequate set of global observations. As in the case of GATE, the WMO will assume the central coordinating role for this experiment, while the actual execution will be the responsibility of national

programs.

Weather and Climate Modification

Operating from the premise that the WMO was the appropriate international body with the necessary scientific and technological competence, the Congress agreed that the time had come for the WMO to become more active in the field of weather and climate modification in order to respond to requests for advice from members, the United Nations, and other international bodies. To provide a basic point of departure, the Congress endorsed a statement recommended by the Executive Committee entitled "Present State of Knowledge and Possible Practical Benefits in Some Fields of Weather Modification" and adopted a resolution providing for the development of a Precipitation Enhancement Project (PEP) as an ongoing WMO program. PEP will be divided into three phases: (1) preparation and selection of the areas in which the projects will be carried out; (2) execution; and (3) evaluation. As with other field projects, the WMO's role in PEP will be that of coordinator of national efforts.

Meteorology and Ocean Affairs

The Congress endorsed the concept--now well established in both scientific and operational circles--of the oceans and the atmosphere constituting inseparable parts of the marine physical environment. WMO is concerned with problems of ocean atmosphere interchange related to weather, climate, marine pollution, sea ice, and conditions of the upper layers of the oceans. The Congress reviewed WMO's cooperation with other international organizations in these activities and provided for their continuation.

Meteorology and Environmental Pollution

After reviewing the activities of WMO in the field of environmental pollution, the Congress adopted a resolution stressing the desirability of continued close collaboration with UNEP. The resolution requested the WMO Secretary General to take steps to promote the development of techniques for monitoring new pollutants; to promote the application of meteorology and hydrology in air pollution, inland water pollution, and pollution at sea; and to collaborate fully in the development of the Global Environmental Monitoring System of UNEP. The Congress also stressed the need to determine the role played by chlorofluoromethanes in destroying ozone, and agreed that its Global Ozone Monitoring System should be strengthened.