The first international agreement for the protection of the coffee industry was in 1940 the Inter-American Coffee Marketing Agreement, which expired in 1948. In order to create a market for fourteen Latin American coffee-producing countries affected by the closure of European markets during World War II, the agreement set U.S. import quotas at reasonable prices. Excesses and falling prices in the late 1950s led Portugal and Latin American producers to create the International Coffee Organization (ICO) to promote international coffee consumption and explore ways to improve coffee quality and reduce production costs. The 1983 ICA was due to expire on 1 October 1989, but, recognizing that it would be impossible to reach a new agreement before the deadline, the Coffee Council (the ICO`s highest body) effectively decided on 4 July 1989 to suspend export quotas. [14] In the absence of a renewed agreement, producing countries have lost most of their influence in the international market. [16] The average price of ICO indicators for the last five years prior to the end of the regime fell from US$1.34 per pound to US$0.77 per pound in the first five years that followed. [16] The text of the seventh international coffee agreement, the 2007 agreement, was approved by the 77 members of the International Coffee Council who met in London on 28 September 2007. It was formally adopted by the Council in Resolution 431 and came into force on 2 February 2011. The agreement will strengthen the role of ICO as an intergovernmental consultation forum, facilitate international trade by increasing transparency and access to relevant information, and promote a sustainable coffee industry for the benefit of all stakeholders and, in particular, small farmers in coffee-producing countries. The 1976 International Coffee Agreement was negotiated in 1975 in a totally different market context from the 1962 and 1968 agreements, when the supply of coffee tended to drive down prices beyond consumer requirements.

In 1975, mainly following a major freeze in Brazil, the world`s largest producer, doubts about the adequacy of supply to meet immediate demand were reflected in a sharp rise in prices. These considerations influenced members in the negotiations on the 1976 agreement to introduce a number of new provisions to strengthen and improve the functioning of the organization, while maintaining many of the provisions that had proven effective in previous agreements. The agreement recognizes that the sustainable coffee sector contributes to the achievement of internationally agreed development goals, including the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), particularly with regard to the elimination of poverty. Among the new provisions are: the implementation of these agreements helped to maintain price stability between 1963 and 1972, and production and consumption became more homogeneous.