The “consultative group” of the Council of the Organization for European Economic Cooperation, composed of eight foreign or finance ministers, met in Paris on October 28, 1949. The group discussed a report made by permanent members of the Council which analyzed the reductions of quantitative import controls suggested provisionally by governments of OEEC. The report concluded that the proposed reductions were less important than they appeared, since many of them merely would ratify an existing situation. It found that the main obstacles to a substantial reduction of import barriers were the difficulties of international payments and the traditional desire for protective measures.