The extended International Coffee Agreement 1994, of which India is also a signatory, will expire on 30^th September, 2001. With a view to strengthening the structure of the International Coffee Organisation to bring it more in line with the current needs of the world coffee economy, the International Coffee Council has approved the International Coffee Agreement 2001, which will enter into force on 1^st October, 2001 for a period of six years until 30^th September, 2007, unless extended or terminated. India has been a member of the International Coffee Organisation right from its inception. The government has been approving India's continued membership in the International Coffee Agreement from time to time. India's accession to the last International Coffee Agreement 1994, which was extended upto 30^th September 2001 was approved in March 2000.

    The objectives of the Agreement are (a) to promote international cooperation on coffee matters; (b) to provide a forum for inter-governmental consultations, and negotiations when appropriate, on coffee matters and on ways to achieve a reasonable balance between world supply and demand on a basis which will assure adequate supplies of coffee at fair prices to consumers and markets for coffee at remunerative prices to producers, and which will be conductive to long term equilibrium between production and consumption; (c) to provide a forum for consultations on coffee matters with the private sector; (d) to facilitate the expansion and transparency of international trade in coffee; (e) to act as a centre for and promote the collection, dissemination and publication of economic and technical information, statistics and studies, as well as research and development, in coffee matters; (f) to encourage members to develop a sustainable coffee economy; (g) to promote, encourage and increase the consumption of coffee; (h) to analyse and advise on the preparation of projects for the benefit of world coffee economy, for their subsequent submission to donor or financing organisations, as appropriate; (I) to promote quality; and (j) to promote training and information programmes designed to assist the transfer to members of technology relevant to coffee.

    The coffee produced in India during 1999-2000 was 2.92 lakh tonnes, out of which 2.44 lakh tonnes were exported. On an average, over 80% of the coffee produced in India is exported. According to commodity wise data available for April-January 2000-2001, the value of coffee exported from the country during this period amounted to US $ 184.16 million.