Catalogue description Records of the General, Export and Information Departments

A General Department was formed by the Board of Trade in 1928 to take over the merchandise marks work of the Commercial Relations and Treaties Department, supervision of the Standards Department and the water power responsibilities of the Industries and Manufactures Department. It also took over responsibility for general questions of food prices and supply from the Food Section inherited from the Ministry of Food in 1921.

The Ottawa Conference and the Agricultural Marketing Act, 1931, brought so much food work to the General Department that in December 1934 its merchandise marks and in 1936 its Standards responsibilities were transferred to the Industries and Manufactures Department. In September 1939 the General Department's food related functions passed to the new Ministry of Food, and in 1940 the department ceased to exist.

In November 1936, when war planning again became a serious matter, the board set up a Food (Defence Plans) Department to plan the procurement, control and distribution of food during a major war. In April 1939 it became independent of the board when the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster became the minister responsible for food defence plans. This formed the nucleus of the second Ministry of Food which replaced it when war broke out in 1939.

A Commodity and General Division was set up in 1954 with responsibility for fuel policy, hire purchase controls, the European Free Trade Association and allied matters. Between 1954 and 1957 it was also responsible for liaison with the Export Credit Guarantee Department and for strategic stocks, formerly controlled by the Ministry of Materials. In 1958 it was renamed the General Division, with responsibility for general questions of economic policy, export promotion and licensing and the board's general interest in agriculture, iron and steel and fuel and transport.

In 1963 General Division was subdivided into two divisions, which were collectively called General Department. General Division I dealt with general economic questions, forecasts of export performance (transferred to Statistics Division in 1964), balance of payments and world trade. This division also included News Branch which was concerned with news of home and overseas trade as well as publicity for ministerial and departmental activities. The branch was transferred to a new Information Division in 1964.

Also in 1964 a new Economic Research Unit was created in General Division I to provide a service to the Department as a whole. It was absorbed within a newly created Economic Services Division in 1969 though it retained its separate identity.

General Division 2 dealt with export promotion, export credit policy, overseas aid and investment, the export of arms and export licensing. It was also responsible for overseas commercial intelligence and its dissemination. Additionally it was originally responsible for work in connection with the Queen's Award to Industry, and later the Office of the Queen's Award to Industry formed part of the division.

In 1965 General Division 3 was formed with responsibility for the Industrial Development Act 1966 which extended the scope of local employment legislation in relation to new development areas and provided for the making of investment grants to industry.

Following a redistribution of responsibilities at a senior level within the Board of Trade in 1968 the divisional titles were changed. General Division I became Economic (General) Division I, General Division 2 became Export Policy and Promotion Division and General Division 3 became Investment Grants Division.

In October 1969, as a result of a wider ranging government departmental reorganisation, a number of areas of the division's work were transferred to the Department of Employment and Productivity and the name of the Division was changed to General and Industrial Division. This division had responsibility for general economic policy, including inward and outward investment, industrial design and industrial efficiency, the Committee of Inquiry on small firms, public expenditure and taxation, balance of payments, import licensing and consumer protection.

The Export Policy and Promotion Division (XP) dealt with UK policy on general export promotion questions, export credit and finance, overseas aid, arms exports and export licensing. It was responsible for general questions on overseas commercial intelligence, including disseminating it to industry, and dealing with enquires from industry. It also dealt with information about and participation in trade fairs, British Weeks and store promotions overseas.

From 1 January 1970, XP Division was renamed the Export Planning and Development Division (EPD) This resulted in some redistribution of functions. EDP Division had similar responsibilities to XP Division, including responsibility for the planning and development work needed to ensure that the resources of the board's export promotion work were used to greatest effect. It was, therefore, particularly concerned with the planning and development of new services to industry, the ordering of priorities in export promotion, and general liaison in the export field with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the British National Export Council.

The EPD Division retained its title when it passed from the Board of Trade to the Department of Trade and Industry in October 1970. In 1972 and 1973 the Division was attended by further organisational changes relating to the DTI's export promotion work. In June 1972 the Overseas Projects and Technology Division was reconstituted as Overseas Finance and Projects Division (OFP) and what was previously Branch 2 of EPD Division became the Overseas Finance Branch (OF) of OFP Division.

From 1 March 1973 an additional restructuring of export promotion work resulted in the dissolution of EPD Division and the creation of two new divisions: (i) Overseas Finance and Planning Division (OFP) made up of the OFP Division and Branches 1 and 2 of EPD Division; and (ii) Export Services and Promotion (ESP), consisting of Export Services Division (ES) and Branch 3 (Fairs and Promotions Branch) of EPD. In 1974, the OFP passed to the Department of Trade where, on 24 March 1975, it was dissolved and a new Export Development/ CRE 3 Division was formed.

This division originated in a Press Section, set up by the Board of Trade in 1940 to deal with press enquiries and to issued material for publication on behalf of the board to the press, the BBC, the Ministry of Information and other agencies at home and abroad. Later in the war, it became the Public Relations Department and after the war it expanded, taking over from the Establishment Department responsibility for the Board of Trade Journal. In 1948 it became the Information Division; in 1957 it was merged with the General Division.

In June 1964, a new Information Division was established in the Board of Trade by the amalgamation of the News Branch and the Export Publicity and Overseas Information Section of the Export Publicity and Fairs Branch in the General Division. The Division was responsible for the board's information and publicity activities. It was organised into a News Branch, consisting of the Press Office and the Board of Trade Journal and an Information Policy Branch with Home and Overseas Sections. After the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) was split in 1974, common services, including information, were provided by the Department of Industry until the second DTI was established in 1983.