Ask the Scholar
Document scope · 1 page
Scholar
Ask about this object, its catalog metadata, its source description, or the page inventory.
For page-specific OCR and visual context, open one of the page chats.
Scholar Source Context
Document identity
localId
7343382
label
President's Letter to Senate Transmitting for ratification the International Coffee Agreement, 1976
core
doc
dtoType
document
citationUrl
pageCount
1
Source metadata
id
7343382
sourceUrl
contentType
document
title
President's Letter to Senate Transmitting for ratification the International Coffee Agreement, 1976
citationUrl
collections
White House Press Releases (Ford Administration)
Press Releases
largeImageUrl
imageCount
1
hasImages
yes
source
import
hasTranscription
no
Source extras
naId
7343382
levelOfDescription
item
productionDates
day
5
logicalDate
1976-04-05
month
4
year
1976
recordType
description
ocrSource
nara-archive
Single page context
seq
1
pageIndex
0
type
document
mediaId
ab648e5e74fc971d
ocrText
Digitized from Box 24 of the White House Press Releases at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 5, 1976
Office of the White House Press Secretary
THE WHITE HOUSE
TO THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES:
I am transmitting herewith, for the advice and consent
of the Senate to ratification, the International Coffee
Agreement, 1976. In doing so, I am the fourth President
since 1962 to seek favorable Senate consideration of an
International Coffee Agreement. The 1976 Agreement is
similar to those of 1962 and 1968, but it contains a
number of innovative features which represent a considerable
improvement for consumers. I strongly urge that the Senate
give advice and consent to ratification of this Agreement,
thus agreeing that the spirit of cooperation, which has
characterized the international coffee community these
past 14 years, should be continued and strengthened.
Negotiation of the 1976 Agreement began in January
of 1975 and continued throughout the year. On October 28,
1975, the Senate unanimously approved the Protocol for
the Continuation in Force of the International Coffee
Agreement of 1968, as Extended, which allowed the continued
existence of the International Coffee Organization through
September 30, 1976, preserving it as a source of statistical
information and as the forum for negotiation of the new
Agreement. These negotiations were completed in December
and resulted in a greatly improved International Coffee
Agreement.
The Coffee Agreement of 1962, and its successor, the
Coffee Agreement of 1968, were designed to stabilize the
export earnings of producing countries by moderating the
traditional boom or bust cycle of coffee production.
These Agreements were largely successful in meeting their
objectives. Overproduction was brought under control and
accumulated surpluses were reduced without a disastrous
disruption of the market. At the same time, consumers
enjoyed relative price stability. However, the Agreements
were not designed to deal with situations of short supply.
The situation the coffee community faces today differs
considerably from the situations in 1962 and 1968. Coffee
is no longer in surplus, and inventories in both producing
and consuming countries are low. On July 17, 1975, the
coffee growing regions of Brazil were hit by the most severe
frost since 1918, destroying hundreds of millions of coffee
trees and thus sharply reducing the productive capacity of
the world's largest producer for the next several years.
The world faces a period of short supply of coffee. How
long this period may last will depend on how well the
international coffee community can manage its efforts to
restore production and stocks.
more
2
The International Coffee Agreement of 1976 was concluded
after the Brazilian frost and takes into account our ex-
perience in the 1962 and 1968 Agreements. It contains a
number of new features designed to deal with the situation
we expect to face in the future. The Agreement contains
strong new incentives for the early restoration of normal
supplies to consumer member markets.
The most important features of the new Agreement are
the following:
-- The Agreement is intended to stabilize prices
within the range of long term market trends and
to encourage the restoration of adequate production
levels. There are no fixed price objectives.
--- Consumers are provided with assurances there will
be no restriction on the flow of coffee to the
market while prices are high. Thus, the Agreement
commences with its export quotas in suspense.
Producers have assurances of renewed consumer
cooperation should a temporary production surplus
reappear. The Agreement should act as a stimulus
to producing countries to restore production to
levels adequate to meet consumption needs at
reasonable prices.
--- Those coffee producers who perform best during the
next two years will be rewarded with a permanent
increase in their basic quotas, which is an additional
incentive to ship to the market every available
bag of coffee.
-- Quotas will go to those countries which have
coffee available to ship through a new and more
flexible system of annual quota distribution.
The Agreement is the most generous in its quota
allocation to the smallest producers, and allows
them the highest growth rates.
Now, as in 1962 and 1968, coffee remains in financial
terms the most important non-petroleum commodity exported
by developing countries. A large number of developing
countries in Latin America, Africa and Asia rely on coffee
as a major source of their export earnings. Altogether,
43 producing nations participated in the negotiation of
the new Agreement and are expected to join it.
As the world's largest consuming country, coffee is
also important to the U.S. In 1974, we imported coffee
valued at $1.5 billion. In that same year, we exported
agricultural and manufactured products to the coffee producing
countries worth over $15 billion. We are good customers
of the coffee producing countries, and they are good customers
of ours.
We and the other consuming countries have constructed
a unique cooperative relationship with the coffee producing
countries within-the framework of International Coffee
more
3
Agreements. We have attempted, with a good measure of
success, to find constructive solutions to the problems
which affect the production and trade of coffee. I strongly
urge this mutually beneficial effort as represented in the
new Agreement be continued.
I am also transmitting the report submitted to me by
the Department of State on the International Coffee Agreement
of 1976.
I recommend that the Senate give early and favorable
consideration to this Agreement and its advice and consent
to ratification. The Secretary of State will submit legislation
to implement the Agreement through September 30, 1979.
GERALD R. FORD
THE WHITE HOUSE,
April 5, 1976
####