Economic and Social Council

The first part of the 20th session of the Economic and Social Council was held in Geneva from July 5 through August 5,1955; Sir Douglas Copland (Australia) continued as president of the Council. The second part of the 20th session was scheduled to take place during or shortly after the tenth regular session of the General Assembly. At the opening meeting a discussion was held on adoption of the sessional agenda;1 a proposal by the United Kingdom delegate that a coordination committee be established to deal with matters of detail that might arise under item four of the agenda, general review of the development and coordination of the economic, social and human rights programs and activities of the UN and the specialized agencies as a whole, was adopted. The United Kingdom representative also proposed that consideration of 1) the status and functions of the Interim Coordinating Committee for International Commodity Arrangements and 2) the status and functions of the Commission on International Commodity Trade be postponed until the 21st session; the proposal was adopted by a vote of 10 to 5 with 3 abstentions. Also at its opening meeting the Council agreed it would decide at a later meeting whether or not to include in the provisional agenda the question of Spain becoming a party to the protocols of 1946 and 1948 on narcotic drugs. The agenda, as amended, was adopted unanimously, and fifteen of the nineteen agenda items were discussed at the first part of the session.