Catalogue description Colonial Office: Colonial Empire Marketing Board: Original Correspondence

The Colonial Empire Marketing Board was established by the Secretary of State for the Colonies with himself as chairman in 1937, following the recommendations of an inter-departmental committee, to promote the marketing of colonial produce in the United Kingdom and overseas. It included MPs and representatives of commercial and shipping interests as well as members from the Department of Overseas Trade and the Imperial Institute.

The board had its own office and secretariat but was financed through the Colonial Office, with which it worked very closely. Operating largely through committees, it commenced work in 1938, concentrating initially on the investigation and improvement of the marketing methods for particular colonial products. Its other main activity was publicising colonial products in Britain by a variety of means. The board's operations were cut short by the outbreak of the Second World War, which it did not survive.