Catalogue description Tariff Advisory Committee: Papers

Before the 1939-1945 war the work of examining applications for tariff variations and making recommendations to the Treasury rested with the Import Duties Advisory Committee (IDAC), a statutory body established under the Import Duties Act 1932. In 1939 the functions of IDAC were suspended under the Import Duties (Emergency Provisions) Act and passed to the Board of Trade.

At the end of the war with the relaxation of import licensing restrictions and the extension of Open General Licences to some European countries, it was necessary to strengthen existing tariff-making machinery. Cabinet Office approval for the re-introduction of a high-level advisory committee was given in December 1950 and the Tariff Advisory Committee (TAC) was formed in 1951, the Board of Trade providing the Chairman and Secretariat. Other members were drawn from the Treasury, Customs and Excise, Ministries of Agriculture and Fisheries, Food and Supply, Department of Agriculture for Scotland, and Ministry of Agriculture for Northern Ireland. The first meeting was held on the 30th March 1951.

The Committee had no public status and did not hear evidence or publish recommendations. It dealt solely with the domestic merits of applications and did not consider external commercial policy in the implementation of its findings. Only the more important tariff applications were referred to the Committee, those involving protective duties proper. Many of the early applications came from the National Farmers' Union (NFU).

During the Kennedy Round Tariff negotiations, 1964-1966, meetings were suspended. The Committee was re-activated on 12 September 1967 and continued to function at least until 1968.