The deficiency of the traditional system of central planning was officially recognized in 1967, when a decision was made by the National Party Conference to raise the quality of planning to the level demanded by the needs of a modern industrial state. This aim was to be achieved by granting a larger degree of autonomy to individual enterprises while, at the same time, maintaining and even strengthening the directing role of the central plan. The prolonged and intensive discussion engendered by the PCR decision has brought to light many flaws and proposals for change but has not provided a clear insight into the current planning process. Modifications of the traditional pattern have taken place as a result of organizational and administrative changes introduced after 1967. The intended adoption of a new system, however, that would take into account market relationships and give greater weight to the needs of consumers has been delayed by differences of views among economists and officials on essential elements of the system, by disagreement on the nature of such basic concepts as productivity, economic efficiency, and profit, and by the need for a prior reform of the price system. A draft of a new planning law was reported to be in preparation toward the end of 1971. As a means of decentralizing planning and mastering the intractable supply problem, the task of coordinating requirements with supplies was delegated to the centrals (see Glossary), trusts, and other enterprise associations and, ultimately, to the enterprises themselves by a law on economic contracts enacted in December 1969. Under the law, industrial and trade enterprises must enter into contracts with suppliers for all products and services needed to fulfill the tasks of the next year's economic plan. In theory, the demands of final consumers for consumption and capital goods would determine the nature of the contracts through all stages of production down to the producers of raw materials. This has not been the case in practice. Most contracts must be concluded at least six months before the beginning of the plan year because they are supposed to serve as the basis for developing the final version of the annual plan; they must take into account the economic tasks set for that year by the five-year plan. The central planning authorities formulate the ultimate annual plan by modifying individual contracts, where deemed necessary, in the light of official policies and anticipated availabilities of materials and other inputs. Correction of original contracts was reported to be essential because enterprises tended to exaggerate their true requirements as determined by official norms and standards. In 1970 initial orders exceeded available resources of materials by from 20 to 200 percent.