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

INTERNATIONAL COCOA ORGANIZATION (ICCO)

Organisation internationale du cacao
Organización International del Cacao


        

HEADQUARTERS


22 Berners Street                                         Telephone:   [44](20)7637-3211
London W1P 3DB                                            Facsimile:   [44](20)7631-0114
United Kingdom                                            Internet:    www.icco.org


          Officer-in-Charge:          ...      Jan VINGERHOETS

LANGUAGES: English, French, Russian, Spanish

ESTABLISHMENT AND FUNCTIONS

The International Cocoa Organization (ICCO) was established to administer the provisions of the International Cocoa Agreement, 1972, and its successor Agreements of 1975, 1980, 1986, and 1993.

The main objectives of the successive Agreements have been to ensure the production of adequate supplies of cocoa at prices remunerative to producers and fair to consumers, to prevent excessive price fluctuations, and to secure a balance between supply and demand.

The present Agreement, that of 1993, came into force on February 22, 1994. Whereas the mechanisms embodied in previous Agreements tended to focus on the correction of temporary or short-term market imbalances, essentially through buffer stock intervention, the 1993 Agreement focuses on a longer term view of the market and emphasizes the need to avoid structural imbalances by promoting the necessary adjustments of production and consumption. In order to restore a balanced market at acceptable price levels, the Agreement contains provisions for the establishment of production-management plans and programs, and measures to increase consumption in the medium to long-term.

In order to ensure the competitiveness of cocoa, there will also be more emphasis on support for cocoa research and the improvement of cocoa quality. The implementation of the 1993 Agreement will also see attention focused on the following key areas:

  • The development and strengthening of international co-operation in all sectors of the world cocoa economy and the provision of an appropriate forum for the discussion of all related matters;
  • The promotion of transparency in the working of the world cocoa economy through the collection and dissemination of relevant statistical and other data;
  • The promotion of scientific research and development in the field of cocoa; and
  • The development of the role of ICCO as an International Commodity Body in relation to the preparation, submission and supervision of projects to be financed through the Second Account of the Common Fund for Commodities.

As the 1993 Agreement has no buffer stock provision, all buffer stock cocoa accumulated under previous Agreements has now been liquidated in accordance with the provisions of Article 38 of the 1986 Agreement.

COMPOSITION

As at December, 2000, the membership of the ICCO comprised a total of 42 member countries as follows:

Exporting members: Benin, Brazil, Cameroon, Côte d'Ivoire, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Gabon, Ghana, Grenada, Jamaica, Malaysia, Nigeria, Papua New Guinea, Peru, São Tomé and Príncipe, Sierra Leone, Togo, Trinidad and Tobago, Venezuela

Importing members: Austria, Belgium/Luxembourg, Czech Republic, Denmark, Egypt, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Russian Federation, Slovak Republic, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom

One inter-governmental organization, the European Union, is also a member.

STRUCTURE

The highest authority is the International Cocoa Council, which consists of all members of the Organization. The Council holds one regular session in each half of the cocoa year which runs from October 1 to September 30. Voting powers in the Council are evenly divided between exporting and importing members.


                                Council (2003/2004)

          Chairman                       ...      Wolfgang HÄSSEL (Germany)
          First Vice-Chairman:           ...      Antonio LÓPEZ-VILLARES (Spain)
          Second Vice-Chairman:          ...      Ashley DELGADO (Ecuador)
          
                            Executive Committee (2003/2004)

          Chairman:                      ...      S.P. ESSOMBA ABANDA (Cameroon)
          Vice-Chairman:                 ...      I. MEDINA (Dominican Republic)

GENERAL PUBLICATIONS

Annual Report; Quarterly Bulletin of Cocoa Statistics; Cocoa Newsletter; World Cocoa Directory; Cocoa Consumption in the Russian Federation; Cocoa and Chocolate in Brazil, Quality and financial aspects of the cocoa campaign

EVENTS

UPDATED:  April 23, 2003

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