International Rubber Study Group

The International Rubber Study Group (IRSG) was founded in 1944. It is an intergovernmental organization recognised as an international body located in London, formally established by a Headquarters Agreement with the Government of the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland.

The Study Group provides a forum for the discussion of matters affecting the supply and demand for both synthetic and natural rubber. It covers all aspects of the world rubber industry, including marketing, shipping distribution, trade in raw materials and the manufacture and sale of rubber products.

The Study Group is the authoritative source of statistical data supplied by Member Governments and other countries and organizations on production, consumption and trade in rubber and rubber products. It prepares current estimates and forecasts future trends, and undertakes and publishes statistical, economic and techno-economic studies on specific aspects of the industry.

Membership is confined to Governments. Currently 16 countries are contributing members: Belgium, Republic of Cameroon, France, Germany, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, Netherlands, Russian Federation, Singapore, Spain, Sri Lanka, Thailand, United Kingdom and United States of America. Collectively, they account for 56% of all rubber consumption, 74% of world natural rubber production and 69% of world synthetic rubber production.

The Group is served by a small Secretariat, with the Secretary-General, who is responsible to the Executive Committee and the Group, as its Executive Head. The Group's activities are financed mainly by contributions from Member Governments according to their relative annual production or consumption of new rubber.

The Study Group meets annually for five days, including a two-day International Rubber Forum. Since 1944 there have been 38 Assemblies in 20 countries. When no Assembly is held, a Group Meeting takes place.

The Rubber Statistical Bulletin and Rubber Industry Report are published monthly and distributed free to Member Governments as well as made available to several hundred subscribers world-wide. The Proceedings of the annual International Rubber Forum are also published. Other statistical, economic and techno-economic studies are published regularly.

The Industry Advisory Panel (IAP) was established in 1983 to advise the Study Group on subjects for study and to assist the Secretariat in carrying out its work programme. Its members represent all aspects of the world elastomer industry.

Established in 1990, the Panel of Associates is open to any organization involved in the rubber industry. It provides greater interaction between industry and the Secretariat with benefits to both sides. Payment of the annual fee provides Panel Members with all Group publications free of charge, together with access to the Group's extensive database.

International Sugar Organization[10]

The International Sugar Organisation (ISO) is the unique intergovernmental body dedicated to improving conditions on the world sugar market through debate, analysis, special studies and transparent statistics.

Based in London, the 63 member states of the ISO (ISO Member States: Argentina, Australia, Belarus, Belize, Brazil, Colombia, Côte-d'Ivoire, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Egypt, EU, Fiji, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Hungary, India, Jamaïca, Japan, Kenya, Korea, Rep. Of Latvia, Malawi, Mauritius, Mexico, Moldova, Nigeria, Pakistan, Panama, Philippines, Romania, South Africa, Sudan, Swaziland, Switzerland, Thailand, Trinidad & Tobago, Turkey, Ukraine, Vietnam, Zambia, Zimbabwe) represent (based on data for 2002) 80% of world sugar production, 63% of world sugar consumption, 91% of world exports, 35% of world imports.

The ISO exists to administer the internationally negotiated 1992 International Sugar Agreement (ISA), the objectives of which are:

· to ensure enhanced international cooperation in connection with world sugar matters and related issues.

· to provide a forum for intergovernmental consultations on sugar and on ways to improve the world sugar economy.

· to facilitate trade by collecting and providing information on the world sugar market and other sweeteners.

· to encourage increased demand for sugar, particularly for non-traditional uses.

To fulfil these objectives the ISO undertakes many distinct activities.

The ISO is the only worldwide forum for the exchange of views by major producing, consuming and trading countries at an intergovernmental level. Council sessions, held twice a year in May and November, afford the opportunity for policy issues to be debated at a multi-lateral level.

The ISO contributes significantly to improved market transparency through its long established and widely recognized statistical and analytical activities. The Market Evaluation, Consumption & Statistics Committee (MECAS), also meeting twice a year, allows a serious and in depth debate of the short term market perspective based on the ISO Secretariat's independent view, longer term perspectives and studies carried out by the Secretariat and others of issues and problems of common interest to members.

The ISO holds annual seminars with the objective of increasing knowledge and understanding of the sugar market and related problems. The ISO holds Workshops on subjects of special interest and importance to the sugar world.

As the designated International Commodity Body (ICB) for sugar for the Amsterdam based Common Fund for Commodities (CFC), the ISO is uniquely able to formulate and sponsor projects from developing countries and countries in transition seeking finance from the first and second accounts of the CFC.

The ISO will continue to expand its activities. Expanding from its traditional areas of sugar statistics, short and long term forecasting and market analysis, the ISO is tackling issues like sugar and health, sugar and the environment, fortification of sugar with Vitamin A, Organic Sugar and the promotion of sugar. Product coverage has been expanded to deal with related or associated products like alcohol, molasses and alternative sweeteners, both calorific and non-calorific. The ISO is active in preparing its members for the next round of WTO negotiations, through comprehensive studies, and is cooperating with the World Bank on its Task Force on Commodity Risk Management.

International Coffee Organisation[11]

The International Coffee Organisation (ICO) is the main intergovernmental organisation for coffee, bringing together producing and consuming countries to tackle the challenges facing the world coffee sector through international cooperation.

It makes a practical contribution to the world coffee economy and to improving standards of living in developing countries by:

· Enabling government representatives to exchange views and coordinate coffee policies and priorities at regular high-level meetings;

· Improving coffee quality through the Coffee Quality-Improvement Programme;

· Initiating coffee development projects to improve quality and marketing, and combat diseases;

· Promoting coffee consumption through innovative market development activities;

· Working closely with the private sector through a 16 strong Private Sector Consultative Board (PSCB) which tackles issues such as food safety;

· Encouraging a sustainable coffee economy and environmental standards through studies and expert panels;

· Providing objective and comprehensive information and research on the world coffee market;

· Ensuring transparency in the coffee market through statistics, with 200,000 records processed each year;

· Producing market reports, econometric models, in-depth economic studies and country coffee profiles.

The ICO was set up in London in 1963 under the auspices of the United Nations because of the great economic importance of coffee. It has administered six International Coffee Agreements (ICAs), the most recent of which entered into force provisionally on 1 October 2001. Its Members include coffee exporting and importing countries, and it functions through the International Coffee Council, the Executive Board, the Private Sector Consultative Board, the Executive Director and a small Secretariat.

Coffee is one of the world’s largest traded commodities produced in more than 60 countries, providing a livelihood for some 25,000,000 coffee farming families around the world. Many of these countries are heavily dependent on coffee, which can account for over 75% of their total export earnings. Among consumers coffee is a universally popular drink, with over US$70 billion in retail sales a year. ICO exporting Members account for over 97% of world coffee production and its importing Members are responsible for 68% of world coffee consumption.

International Tropical Timber Organisation [12]

The International Tropical Timber Organisation (ITTO) is a commodity organization which brings together countries which produce and consume tropical timber to discuss and exchange information and develop policies on all aspects of the world tropical timber economy. The ITTO is headquartered in Yokohama, Japan and at July 2003 had 58 members, including the European Community, which together represent 95 percent of world trade in tropical timber and 75 percent of the world's tropical forests.

The ITTO recognizes that a continuing supply of tropical timber on the world market depends on quality information about the trade and market place, on efficient timber production and processing methods and on sustainable forest management practices. The ITTO facilitates discussion, consultation and international cooperation on issues relating to the international trade and utilization of tropical timber and the sustainable management of its resource base.

The ITTO was first established by the International Tropical Timber Agreement (ITTA), 1983, which was negotiated with a limited life span under the auspices of United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and came into force in 1985. The Organization became operational in 1987. Unlike some other commodity agreements, the ITTA has no price regulation mechanisms or market intervention provisions, and accords equal importance to trade and conservation. ITTO's underlying concept is to sustainable development of tropical forests by encouraging and assisting the tropical timber industry and trade to manage and thus conserve the resource basis upon which they depend.

The successor agreement to the ITTA (1983) was negotiated in 1994 and came into force on 1 January 1997. The new agreement continues to focus on the world tropical timber economy. In addition, it contains broader provisions for information sharing, including non-tropical timber trade data and allows for consideration of non-tropical timber issues as they related to tropical timber.

The ITTA, 1994 gives new emphasis to the policy work of the ITTO. It enshrines the Year 2000 Objective and establishes the Bali Partnership Fund to assist producing member countries to sustainably manage their tropical timber producing forests.

The ITTO's Members

Producers:

Africa: Cameroon, Central African Republic, Congo, Côte d'Ivoire, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Gabon, Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria, Togo.
Asia & Pacific: Cambodia, Fiji, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Thailand, Vanuatu.

Latin America: Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Panama, Peru, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, Venezuela.

Consumers: Australia, Canada, China, Egypt, European Union, Japan, Nepal, New Zealand, Norway, Republic of Korea, Switzerland, United States of America

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В заключение следует отметить, что международные финансовые организации на протяжении последних десятилетий содействуют решению широкого спектра проблем: устранение валютных ограничений; принимают участие в проведении структурных реформ в развивающихся и постсоциалистических странах; участвуют в урегулировании национальных и региональных кризисов, в смягчении, а иногда и устранении долговых проблем.

По мере нарастания глобализации международные экономические организации стали одним из важнейших звеньев все более усложняющегося многоярусного механизма, регулирующего валютные и кредитно-финансовые отношения. Этот механизм эволюционирует, постоянно адаптируется к меняющейся среде. В нынешнем столетии формирование этого механизма пойдет еще быстрее благодаря тому, что информационная революция значительно облегчает его функционирование. Вполне возможно, что происходящие изменения в экономической и политической сферах, вызовут к жизни международные организации нового поколения, которые смогут более эффективно решать мирохозяйственные проблемы.

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Дата добавления: 2015-07-21