marketing board

Organization set up by a government to regulate the buying and selling of a certain commodity within a specified area. The simplest type of board is designed to carry out market research, promote sales, and furnish information; it is usually financed by a fee levied on all sales of the product concerned. Examples include the Sri Lanka Tea Board and the Ghana Cocoa Board. Other boards are empowered to regulate terms and conditions of sale, usually by establishing packing standards and quality analysis. The primary goal of most marketing boards is to stabilize prices, especially of products intended for the export market, where price fluctuations are often extreme. The boards may raise average prices through manipulation of commodity flows, with the objective of maintaining reasonably high levels of demand at all times. Marketing boards such as the Washington State Apple Commission are used for products whose perishability requires that outlets be set up in advance. See also cartel.

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