§ MR. FIELD (Dublin, St. Patrick)I beg to ask the President of the Board of Trade, having regard to the fact that some time since a Commercial Intelligence Committee was appointed in connection with the Foreign Office representing Government departments and commercial interests, whether he can give the names and composition of that Committee, and state what duties it performs, how often it meets, and when the last meeting was held; and whether any Report or recommendations have been issued relative to the commercial interests of the country.
§ MR. GERALD BALFOURThe Committee consists at present of two representatives of the Board of Trade, one representative of the Foreign, Colonial, and India Offices respectively, two representatives of the Imperial Institute, and seven representatives of the commercial community appointed on the recommendation of the Associated Chambers of Commerce. Some representatives of colonial commerce are about to be added. I shall be happy to show a list of names of the present members to the hon. Member if he so desires. The duties of the Committee are to supervise generally the collection and diffusion of commercial information through the Commercial Intelligence Branch of the Board of Trade, and to advise the Board on any matters that may be referred to it. The Committee has met four times during the past year, the last meeting having been on April 30th. The Committee being an advisory one, it is not the practice to publish its Reports and recommendations but I may mention that among the subjects which have recently been under it consideration have been the probable effect on British trade of the forthcoming revision of the German tariff and the improvement in the methods of obtaining commercial information with regard to the colonies.