The ministry was established in order to provide a better overview of the crisis measures that the Second World War caused.
The ministry dealt with administrative matters relating to general guidelines for government activities to ensure the supply within Sweden of necessities that were important to the population or production.
At the Riksdag of 1938, the question of a departmental reform was dealt with, mainly due to motions on the establishment of a Ministry of Health.
[2] The ministry dealt with administrative matters concerning general guidelines for the government's activities to ensure the supply within Sweden of necessities that were of importance to the population or production.
It dealt with measures for the regulation of the production of such supplies, export and import, the maintenance and use of the merchant navy, and war insurance, together with legislation within its administrative area.