The Bureau of Interstellar Trade and Commerce was a branch of the United Federation of Planets. On Stardate 1/7009, the Federation Council received a plea from the Andorian colony of Th'allt which requested protection from the unscrupulous dalings of Tellarite merchants that had exploited their trade routes. However, the Bureau did not take any action and this resulted in the Scandal of Archimedes. The blame after the disaster was placed on both the Bureau and Starfleet Intelligence which highlighted the unwielding bureaucracy that the Federation suffered from at the time. (FASA RPG module: Star Fleet Intelligence Manual: Agent's Orientation Sourcebook)