Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the USSR

(CCI of the USSR), a public organization that facilitates the development of foreign trade and economic relations and the advancement of science and technology in the USSR.

The CCI of the USSR, originally called the All-Union Chamber of Commerce, dates back to 1932. It was reorganized and given its present name in 1972—a development that reflected the economy’s growth, the increased trade volume, the changes in the trade system, the establishment of chambers of commerce and industry in the Union republics, and the expansion of economic, scientific, and technical relations between the USSR and other countries. The CCI’s bylaws were adopted at the extraordinary congress held by the organization in September 1974. The highest bodies of the CCI are the congress, the council, and the presidium—the last two being elected by the congress. As of 1975, the active membership of the CCI consisted of 1,927 industrial enterprises, 729 trade organizations, 169 research institutes, 65 foreign trade organizations, 93 construction and transportation organizations, and 98 miscellaneous organizations including communications enterprises, educational institutions, and public organizations.

Every year the CCI—jointly with the Ministry of Foreign Trade of the USSR, the State Committee for Science and Technology, other ministries and agencies, and industrial enterprises that are members of the CCI—selects as many as 70,000 machines, instruments, and consumer products to be shown at international exhibitions. The CCI organizes foreign exhibitions in the USSR (up to 80,000 items are brought in annually for demonstration by foreign firms). It also arranges for the patenting of foreign inventions in the USSR and of Soviet inventions abroad; it registers trademarks, issues certificates of origin for goods exported from the USSR, and carries out quality control.

The CCI maintains relations with the business circles of foreign countries through joint chambers of commerce. It has a legal section, as well as sections dealing with maritime and commercial navigation law and the protection of industrial property; the various sections deal with questions arising from the CCI’s activities.

Permanently functioning under the jurisdiction of the CCI are the Foreign Trade Arbitration Commission, the Maritime Arbitration Commission, and the Bureau of Average Adjusters (for damage claims).