Directory of Economic, Commodity and Development Organizations - table of contents

INTERNATIONAL COFFEE ORGANIZATION (ICO)

Organización Internacional del Café
Organizaçao Internacional do Café
Organisation internationale du café

HEADQUARTERS

22 Berners Street                                         Telephone:   [44](020)7580-8591
London W1T 3DD                                            Facsimile:   [44](020)7580-6129
England                                                   E-Mail:      info@ico.org
                                                          Internet:    www.ico.org

          Executive Director:         ...    Néstor OSORIO

                     International Coffee Council

          Chairman:                   ...    Roberto GIESEMANN (Mexico)
          First Vice-Chairman:        ...    Gilberto BUTA LUTUCUTA (Angola)
          Second Vice-Chairman:       ...    Mrs. Ina GROHMANN (Germany)

                          Executive Board

          Chairman:                   ...    Markus SCHLAGENHOF (Switzerland)
          Vice-Chairman:              ...    Enzo BARATTINI (European Community)

                    Members of the Executive Board

          Exporting Members:          ...    Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ethiopia, Guatemala, Indonesia, 
                                             OAMCAF, Papua New Guinea
          Importing Members:          ...    European Community (Belgium, Germany, Italy, Spain, United Kingdom)
                                             Japan, Switzerland

LANGUAGES: English, French, Portuguese, Spanish

ESTABLISHMENT AND FUNCTIONS

The International Coffee Organization (ICO) is the main intergovernmental organization for coffee, bringing together producing and consuming countries to tackle the challenges facing the world coffee sector through international cooperation. It was set up in London in 1963 by the United Nations because of the great economic importance of coffee. It administers the International Coffee Agreement, the latest of which, the International Coffee Agreement 2001, entered into force in October 2001.

Coffee is one of the world's largest traded commodities with over 100 million bags produced in 50 countries, providing a livelihood for some 100 million people around the world. Many of these countries are heavily dependent on coffee, which can account for over 80% of their total export earnings. Among consumers, coffee is a universally popular drink, with over US$50 billion in retails sales a year. ICO exporting Members account for over 97% of world coffee production and its importing Members are responsible for 65% of world coffee consumption.

• bringing government respresentatives together to exchange views and coordinate coffee policy and priorities at regular high-level meetings
• initiating coffee development projects to improve quality and marketing and combat diseases
• promoting coffee consumption through innovative promotion activities
• working closely with the private sector through a 16-member Private Sector Consultative Board which tackles issues such as food safety
• encouraging a sustainable coffee economy and environmental standards through studies and expert panels
• providing objective and comprehensive information and research on the world coffee market
• ensuring transparency in the coffee market through statistics, with 200,000 records processed each year
• producing market reports, econometric models, in-depth economic studies and country coffee profiles

COMPOSITION

Exporting members: Angola, Benin, Bolivia, Brazil, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Colombia, Democratic Republic of Congo, Republic of Congo, Costa Rica, Côte d'Ivoire, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Ghana, Guatemala, Guinea, Haiti, Honduras, India, Indonesia, Jamaica, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mexico, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Thailand, Togo, Trinidad and Tobago, Uganda, Venezuela, Vietnam, Zambia, Zimbabwe.

Importing members: European Community, Cyprus, Japan, Norway, Singapore, Switzerland

UPDATED:  December 2003