The International Coffee Organization (ICO) has announced a draft of the new International Coffee Agreement 2022 after the 132 Session of the International Coffee Council.
Held virtually, the session concluded after a two-day meeting from 31 March to 1 April.
H.E. Ambassador Iván Romero-Martínez of Honduras chaired the meeting and brought together 34 Members from both exporting and importing countries.
The new agreement has been reviewed to improve international cooperation among all coffee stakeholders both at public and private levels, so as to achieve a sustainable and resilient coffee sector with a specific focus on the livelihoods of coffee farmers and other producers.
The revised structure recognises the need to enhance dialogue and build new partnerships with the private sector and civil society in order to jointly address common challenges such as climate change and the negative repercussion of the COVID-19 pandemic.
A new system for the calculation of votes and contributions that better reflects the reality of the coffee global value chain is also expected to be introduced to promote a fairer distribution of financial commitments among members and enhance the financial sustainability of the ICO.
The Council has decided to hold a Special Session of the Council on 8 and 9 June 2022 to consider the adoption of the new Agreement.
Members also appointed Massimiliano Fabian of Italy as the new Vice-Chair of the International Coffee Council, and Zoltan Agai of the European Commission as Chair of the Finance and Administration Committee for coffee year 2021/22.
ICO Members and the Secretariat expressed their gratitude to José Sette for his five years of service (2017-2022) as the Executive Director of the ICO and for the achievements obtained for the benefit of the global coffee sector under his leadership.
On 1 May 2022, Vanúsia Maria Carneiro Nogueira will succeed José Sette, becoming the first woman to lead the ICO since its creation.
The Council will resume in-person meetings starting with the last session of coffee year 2021/22, which will be held in Bogotá from 3 to 7 October 2022 following the generous offer made by the Government of Colombia to host the 134th Session of the Council.
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