Work of the Agency in 1947: By January 1948 some progress had been made in carrying out a reparation program for the 18 signatory governments, but disagreement over the political and economic future of Germany impeded the reparation plan as foreseen at Potsdam and reparation assets made available to the Inter Allied Reparation Agency for allocation had been few in number. Between January 1 and December 31, 1947 the Assembly of IARA approved the allocation of equipment from plants of a total value of 132 million Reichsmarks. Since the establishment of the Agency the cumulative total of plants or part plants made available was 261, of which equipment from 197 had been allocated to member governments. More progress was reported in the distribution of the German merchant fleet; by the end of 1946 most of the usable shipping had already been allocated and agreement was made regarding the remainder during the first half of 1947. This meant that 274 ships were distributed and the remaining vessels, suitable only for scrapping, were distributed to the highest bidders among member states.