above, as well as to the action taken by the Committee to ensure submission of reports by States parties. 31. The Committee wished to repeat once again a statement that it made at its first session and that was communicated to all States parties and to the General Assembly: -17- "The Committee attaches great importance to these reports. It is unanimously of the view that, being a principal source of information, these reports provide the Committee with an essential element for discharging one of its most important responsibilities, namely, reporting to the General Assembly of the United Nations under article 9, paragraph 2, of the Convention." 31 B. Consideration of reports 32, At its thirty-eighth session, the Committee examined 41 reports submitted by States parties under article 9 of the Convention. Nine reports, from Barbados, Canada, Iraq, Ukrainian SSR, United Kingdom and Yemen, initially scheduled for consideration at the thirty-eighth session, were postponed to the thirty-ninth session at the request of the respective Governments. In addition, the Committee considered the ninth periodic report of New Zealand. The Committee devoted 18 of the 26 meetings it held in 1990 to the discharge of its obligations under article 9 of the Convention. 33. In accordance with rule 64 of its rules of procedure, the Committee continued the practice, started at its sixth session, of requesting the Secretary-General to inform the States parties concerned, except Haiti, of the dates on which their respective reports would be considered by the Committee and to send representatives to participate in the examination of their respective reports. 34. At its thirty-eighth session, the Committee continued to follow the system of country rapporteurs during its examination of reports submitted by States parties (see annex III). This procedure had been decided upon at the thirty-sixth session, with a view to improving and streamlining the Committee's method of examination of 
**Analysis**
The text appears to be discussing the activities of a committee related to international law and treaties, specifically the reporting process of states parties to a convention. The focus is on the examination of reports and the procedures followed by the committee, rather than on specific sectors or industries.

**Category**
Humanitarian aid and relief, International law