LONDON, UK
The Government of the United States has notified the International Coffee Organization (ICO) that it is withdrawing from the International Coffee Agreement 2007, an international commodity agreement between coffee producing and consuming countries, whose objective is to strengthen the global coffee sector and promote its sustainable expansion.
The US did not comment on the decision.
In 1962 the United States was a primary organizer of the agreement and the ICO when the agreement set export quotas and a price floor that stabilized the economies of several coffee producing countries. The agreement is no longer regulatory, that ceased in 1989. It has been renewed seven times with a focus in 2007 on sustainable supply.
José Sette, executive director of the ICO, the intergovernmental organization responsible for administering the agreement, expressed regret for the US Government’s decision to withdraw, but also confidence that relations between the ICO and the American coffee community would continue to be close.
“The private sector in the US, represented by the National Coffee Association and the Specialty Coffee Association, is very supportive of the ICO and we will continue to work closely with both associations. With regard to the US Government, a previous US administration took the decision to withdraw from the International Coffee Agreement and later returned. We hope that the international coffee community will once again see the US Government back among our membership and join us in continuing to tackle the complex challenges facing the world coffee sector in which 25 million producers, mostly smallholders, and over 125 million people directly or indirectly depend on coffee for their livelihood.”
"We believe that the ICO is a valuable and important platform for multinational cooperation within the global coffee sector," writes William “Bill” Murray, president and c.e.o, NCA, National Coffee Association. "Despite this withdrawal, the National Coffee Association, USA, continues to support the ICO, and will continue to participate, as a private sector organization, in the future work of the ICO,” he said.
Specialty Coffee Association executive director Ric Rhinehart writes that "the SCA has long been involved in these historic international coffee institutions and will continue to support the ICO by maintaining our role on the intergovernmental organization's Private Sector Consultative Board. We remain committed supporters of the ICO, and of the international coffee community generally.”
According to the Rules of the Organization, the withdrawal of the United States as a signatory of the International Coffee Agreement 2007 takes effect on 3 June 2018.