International Commodity Agreements

MAC/WFY

Page-65

0230_553559_11_cha07

The 1930s and the post-war years saw intensive activity in negotiations for
international commodity agreements in food and other commodities wheat,
sugar, coffee, cocoa, tea, olive oil, tin, copper, rubber (Goodwin and Mayall, 1979;
Gordon-Ashworth, 1984). The US government played an active, often leading,
part in these negotiations, which showed the scope and limitations of interna-
tional commodity agreements as instruments for promoting economic stability
and growth as well as world food security, particularly from the viewpoint of the
developing countries (Blau, 1963).

In the closing years of the Second World War and the immediate post-war

years, hopes were high for the creation of a widespread network of individual
commodity agreements as part of a new international economic order. A number
of resolutions of the UN, its specialized agencies, and other intergovernmental
bodies urged the negotiation of commodity agreements, leading to preparatory
work and discussion. Yet, almost twenty years later, by the beginning of the 1960s,
only five international agreements had been concluded for wheat, sugar, coffee,
tin and olive oil. Only those for wheat and tin qualified as producerconsumer
agreements and contained some operative provisions designed to influence world
trade in those commodities. The International Sugar Agreement continued form-
ally in force until the end of 1963 but its operative provisions ceased to func-
tion from the beginning of 1962 owing the failure of governments to reach
agreement on the reformulation of quotas. There had been a succession of
one-year producer agreements for coffee by which the governments concerned
agreed to limit exports. An agreement on olive oil provided only for a series
of co-ordinated national measures without attempting to regulate international
trade. The total value of world trade in these five commodities accounted for
only about ten per cent of world trade in primary products at the beginning of
the 1960s.

Frustration, and a growing sense of disappointment, was evident with the

limited results attained, particularly on the part of the primary producing coun-
tries. Increasing attention was therefore paid to other mechanisms, which could
either serve as a substitute for, or as a complement to, international commodity
agreements. At the same time, governments explored the possibilities of new types
of agreements of a more comprehensive kind.

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Useful links	International Commodity Agreements MAC/WFY Page-65 0230_553559_11_cha07 7 International Commodity Agreements The 1930s and the post-war years saw intensive activity in negotiations for international commodity agreements in food and other commodities wheat, sugar, coffee, cocoa, tea, olive oil, tin, copper, rubber (Goodwin and Mayall, 1979; Gordon-Ashworth, 1984). The US government played an active, often leading, part in these negotiations, which showed the scope and limitations of interna- tional commodity agreements as instruments for promoting economic stability and growth as well as world food security, particularly from the viewpoint of the developing countries (Blau, 1963). In the closing years of the Second World War and the immediate post-war years, hopes were high for the creation of a widespread network of individual commodity agreements as part of a new international economic order. A number of resolutions of the UN, its specialized agencies, and other intergovernmental bodies urged the negotiation of commodity agreements, leading to preparatory work and discussion. Yet, almost twenty years later, by the beginning of the 1960s, only five international agreements had been concluded for wheat, sugar, coffee, tin and olive oil. Only those for wheat and tin qualified as producerconsumer agreements and contained some operative provisions designed to influence world trade in those commodities. The International Sugar Agreement continued form- ally in force until the end of 1963 but its operative provisions ceased to func- tion from the beginning of 1962 owing the failure of governments to reach agreement on the reformulation of quotas. There had been a succession of one-year producer agreements for coffee by which the governments concerned agreed to limit exports. An agreement on olive oil provided only for a series of co-ordinated national measures without attempting to regulate international trade. The total value of world trade in these five commodities accounted for only about ten per cent of world trade in primary products at the beginning of the 1960s. Frustration, and a growing sense of disappointment, was evident with the limited results attained, particularly on the part of the primary producing coun- tries. Increasing attention was therefore paid to other mechanisms, which could either serve as a substitute for, or as a complement to, international commodity agreements. At the same time, governments explored the possibilities of new types of agreements of a more comprehensive kind. 65 back to top Next page
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