Department of Trade and Industry (United Kingdom)

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) was a British agency for trade and industry. It was founded in 1970 and existed with some changes until 2007. On June 18, 2007, the duties and responsibilities of the agency were divided between its successors, the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform and the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills .

history

Department of Trade and Industry 1970–1974

The Department of Trade and Industry was originally founded in 1970 through the merger of the Board of Trade (1621-1970) and the Ministry of Technology . The newly created authority also took responsibility for antitrust legislation and corporate mergers from the Department of Employment . The reason for the formation of the new department was the desire to make British industry and trade more competitive internationally, also and above all because of Great Britain's entry into the European Economic Community (EEC) in 1973.

Troubled times began. The constant formation of new organizations and authorities with new and redistribution of responsibilities shaped the political and economic landscape. The Board of Trade had existed for almost 350 years . In the 40 years that followed, political responsibility for trade and industry was to be fundamentally reorganized four times.

In 1971 the Ministry of Aviation Supply was dissolved. The civil aviation and the responsibility for the aerospace industry , including the British share of the European space program was the hands of the Department of Trade and Industry passed. On January 1, 1972, the British Export Board was established to support the agency . The board was made up of experts from the Department of Trade and Industry and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office . However, in March the board was renamed the British Overseas Trade Board . On January 8, 1974, the Department of Energy was established. The DTI thus handed over its responsibility for energy issues to the newly created authority.

Department of Trade 1974-1983

After the British general election in February 1974 , the new administration under Harold Wilson split the DTI into three new agencies on March 5, 1974, the Department of Trade , the Department of Industry and the Department of Prices and Consumer Protection .

The tasks that remained for the Department of Trade were trade policy and trade relations with overseas countries and trade with the EEC . The department was given responsibility for the British Overseas Trade Board . In addition, the authority was given tasks that resulted from the legislation in relation to companies. This included the insurance industry, the patent office, civil aviation, marine and ship transport companies, the newspaper and film industry, the tourism, travel and hotel industries, as well as responsibility for bankruptcy proceedings. After the British general election in May 1979 , the new government under Margaret Thatcher dissolved the Department of Prices and Consumer Protection , founded in 1974, and transferred its tasks to the Department of Trade .

Department of Trade and Industry 1983-2007

According to the British general election, in June 1983 the old government led by Thatcher , the Department of Trade and the Department of Industry together again for the Department of Trade and Industry . On August 7, 1984, the Department was given control of British Telecom's Radio Interference Service (RIS) , later renamed the Radio Investigation Service (RIS).

In 1990 the department was completely reorganized and given a new structure. It has been divided into the departments, Business Task Forces , Information Technology , Manufacturing Technology , Telecommunications and Posts , Economics, Market Intelligence and Statistics (economics, market observation and statistics). The patent office, the bankruptcy service, radio communication and the National Engineering Laboratory (National Technical Laboratory) got new legal positions. After the British general election in April 1992 , the Department of Energy was returned to the DTI.

In the remaining years up to 2007, the DTI was repeatedly restructured, responsibilities outsourced to other authorities or taken over by others. In June 2007, the outgoing Blair government completely dissolved the Department together with the Department for Education and Skills and the Better Regulation Executive .

Web links

  • Introduction to history of BERR . The National Archives,accessed on November 3, 2012(English, website with links to all agencies of the Department ofTrade and Industryincluding their predecessors and successors. Goes back to the 17th century.).

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b c The Department of Trade and Industry (1970-74) . The National Archives , archived from the original on February 16, 2010 ; accessed on April 24, 2018 (English, original website no longer available).
  2. ^ The Department Of Trade (1974-1983) . The National Archives , archived from the original on February 16, 2010 ; accessed on April 24, 2018 (English, original website no longer available).
  3. ^ The Department of Trade and Industry (1983-2007) . The National Archives , archived from the original on February 16, 2010 ; accessed on April 24, 2018 (English, original website no longer available).