Catalogue description Board of Trade: Industrial Supplies Department: Files

The Industrial Supplies Department of the Board of Trade was formed in November 1939 initially to undertake work previously performed by the Industries and Manufactures Department - namely, questions relating to priority, other than man-power, including representation of the board on the sub-committees of the Central Priority Committee, and questions relating to the supply of materials for civil requirements at home and for export trade.

The department continued in existence until January 1945 when its work was divided between Industries and Manufactures (Engineering) Department and Priorities Department.

The department's responsibilities ranged over a wide field which included such matters as:

• All production questions in the engineering industries so far as the board were interested, and the allocation of the products of those industries, especially to meet overseas non-military needs
• Questions of priority for raw materials, labour and industrial capacity within the board's responsibilities and also between the board and other departments
• Board of Trade policy on provision for relief
• In conjunction with Commercial Relations and Treaties Department joint arrangements made with U.S.A. and other countries for the supply of world needs
• Printing and publishing, for which the board took full responsibility
• Other industries, e.g. chemicals, in which the board had a minor interest
• Machinery Licensing and Office Machinery Directorates and the Dyestuffs Control
• Import Licensing Department

Its responsibilities came to include such matters as supplies of materials for home civil needs and for export, industrial priorities and import licensing. In January 1945 its functions were divided between an Industries and Manufactures (Engineering) Division and a new Priorities Division.