Romania’s EU Presidency at 124th Session of International Coffee Council

Representative of Romania’s EU Council has coordinated EU Member States at the 124th session of International Coffee Council as Chairperson of Council of the EU’s Working Party on Commodities. Meeting took place between March 25-29 in Kenya, Nairobi. Kenya’s President, Uhuru Kenyatta, addressed participants at the opening ceremony, which took place on March 26, 2019.

Romania, as Presidency-in-Office of Council of the European Union, coordinates Member States’ position within the international commodity bodies. European Union’s common position is discussed and endorsed by the Council of the European Union’s Working Party on Commodities, and European Commission represents Member States within such international fora.

International Coffee Council meeting, held for the first time in Kenya, was focused on Profitability: Consumption and Productivity. At the same time, other related events unfolded, such as Conference on Coffee Industry Sustainability: Coffee: How sustainable is our future? Thus, talks in Nairobi focused on sustainable development of coffee industry and, implicitly, on functioning of the International Coffee Organization (ICO).

Agenda included topics such as assessment of organization membership, arrangement for members in persistent arrears, 2018/2019 action program, coffee market status report with an emphasis on coffee prices – which are falling – organization’s surveys and reports, assessment of domestic coffee policies, report on implementation of Memoranda of Understanding with various partners, ICO subsidiary bodies’ reports, current status of Special Fund for the promotion of coffee consumption in exporting countries, as well as ICO’s future events.

Seminar on Coffee Industry’s sustainability, which preceded meeting of International Coffee Council, consisted of three panels on: sustainable coffee production; consumption and added value in Africa; public-private collaboration to ensure economic viability of the coffee industry; future of the coffee industry.

The most important issues referred to implementation of Resolution 466 on members of the organization in persistent arrears, implementation of Resolution 465 on coffee price levels and exporting members’ difficulties under these conditions. Both topics directly address sustainability of organization and coffee industry, active involvement of the EU as the biggest member of the organization within the group of importing countries, once more proving commitment to promoting multilateralism and role of EU as a global actor.

Context

International Coffee Organization (ICO) is an international intergovernmental organization, based in London, established in 1963 under the auspices of the United Nations. It is responsible for implementation of International Coffee Agreement, whose latest version was adopted in 2007 and entered into force on February 2, 2011. ICO consists of 50 Member States (44 exporting and 6 importing countries), accounting for 98% of the global coffee production and 67% of global consumption.

International Coffee Council is organization’s highest decision-making body and meets biannually in March and September.

Next International Coffee Council meeting will be held from 23-27 September 2019 in London, UK.

Source:Romania2019.eu