ABSTRACT
In terms of date of introduction, the 1930s witnessed eight international commodity agreements covering five commodities, the Second World War only one new agreement, the 1942 Tin Agreement (although coffee was the object of an Inter-American Agreement, wheat of a draft agreement and sugar of an extension to the 1937 Agreement), the 1945 to 1949 period witnessed only the 1948 Tea Agreement and the 1949 Wheat Agreement and the 1950s, eight agreements. The stated aims of international commodity agreements have fallen into two categories: those with direct links to commodity production and trade, the ‘economic’ provisions; and those which have touched on broader issues. It is the first category which is of most importance for this Chapter. However, in order to set the economic aims in a wider perspective, mention will be made also of the second category of objectives.
