January 6, 1976 government decides whether or not a particular proposal should be referred to the MRTP Commission. All that we are told is that the Inter- Ministerial Advisory Committee makes the decision; nothing is said about the criteria it follows. Thus the widely held suspicion that the government follows no rational criteria and that these decisions (like those on licensing) in fact depend on the economic and political power wielded by the sponsors of a proposal seems to be well founded.