IMPERIAL ECONOMIC COMMITTEE. This is a British imperial body, which owes its authority to resolutions adopted at the Imperial Conference. It continues from one Imperial Conference to the next; it is constituted of members appointed by the several Governments of the British empire; it deals with subjects remitted to it by agreement among those Governments; and it addresses its reports thereon to the Govern ments of the The proposal to appoint such a committee received much sup port at the Imperial Economic Conference of 1923, but agree ment on the terms of reference was only reached in 1924, when Mr. Baldwin, as prime minister, announced its appointment for the following purpose : "To consider the possibility of improving the methods of pre paring for market and marketing in the United Kingdom the food products of the overseas parts of the empire with a view to in creasing the consumption of such products in the United King dom in preference to imports from foreign countries and to promote the interests both of producer and consumer." In addition, the committee was to be asked to advise on the expenditure of a £I,000,000 fund which it was proposed to devote to furthering empire trade.
The first subjects remitted to the committee were meat and fruit. The general reference was understood to imply that pre cedence should be given in the United Kingdom market in the following order : United Kingdom produce, produce from the oversea empire, foreign produce.
The imperial economic committee first met in March 1925 and, by the next meeting of the Imperial Conference in 1926, had issued four reports. The Imperial Conference endorsed the work so far done, and in continuing the committee till the next Imperial Conference extended the scope of its operations thus : "(i.) to complete the series of investigations into the market ing of empire foodstuffs in Great Britain, and, while this work is proceeding, (ii.) to put forward for the consideration of the various Gov ernments concerned (a) a list of raw materials for possible fur ther marketing enquiries, and (b) suggestions for the prepara tion and circulation of brief preliminary surveys, as suggested by the general economic sub-committee of the Conference of any branch of empire trade and marketing, such preliminary surveys, if the Governments concerned so desire, to be followed up by further enquiries." The committee consists of a chairman and representatives nominated by the various Governments of the empire as fol lows : Four by the United Kingdom, two by each dominion, two by India, one by Southern Rhodesia and two by the secretary of State for the Colonies.
In its first or general report the committee stated the case for voluntary preference, that the consumption of empire produce could be stimulated by education and publicity, by increased facil ities for indicating the country of origin on goods exposed for sale, and by sustained research, scientific and economic, into specific disabilities under which empire produce might labour. It, however, emphasized that such a policy would fail without sup plies, adequate and regular in quantity, of the quality desired by consumers, and sold at competitive prices.
The development of such a policy demanded executive action beyond the scope of a committee appointed for advisory pur poses, and the committee recommended that so far as the United Kingdom was concerned such executive work should be entrusted to an executive commission financed out of the proposed new f and and responsible to parliament through a minister of the Crown. This recommendation was accepted. The task was entrusted to the secretary of State for the colonies, assisted by a body known as the Empire Marketing Board (q.v.). The relationship between the imperial economic committee and the Empire Marketing Board is close, yet the two bodies differ radically in functions and in constitution.
In its various reports numerous recommendations unconnected with voluntary preference have been made. These cover trade practices and scientific research, and are directed to securing larger and better supplies of empire products under strictly competitive conditions. After the Ottawa Conference of 1932 the committee became a truly inter-imperial body, responsible not to any one government but to all: its cost borne by all in agreed pro portions and its duties extended. It can report on any economic subject governments agree to refer to it. By 1939 thirty-two re ports had been issued. Some of these, e.g. the first report already referred to and the eighth setting forth the functions and work of the committee, are of a general character, the remainder dealing with meat, fruit, dairy produce, fish, poultry and eggs, honey, to bacco, pig products, timber and hides and skins, etc. (D. C.)