The International Grains Agreement (IGA) deals with the worldwide cereal trade, information exchange, analysis and consultation on the grain market and policy developments. The Convention has been signed by more than 35 countries around the world.
The controversy over this agreement was sparked by the repercussions of the Russian war on Ukraine, which caused a crisis in food across the world, including grains, and the controversy was exacerbated by Egypt's announcement - in March 2023 - of its intention to withdraw from the agreement in June 2023.
Incorporation
With the increase in world wheat stocks at the end of the first half of the twentieth century, and in order to combat fluctuations in world annual production, and to stabilize wheat prices and regulate international wheat trade, the first wheat agreement was held in 1949, and included 50 countries, led by the United States of America.
This agreement aimed to set a minimum and maximum price for wheat after World War II, but it did not achieve the required commitment by the participating countries, which required updating the mechanisms of the agreement through the establishment of the International Grains Council in 1995.
The new international agreement was based on the Grain Trade Agreement concluded in London on December 1994, 1994, and the Food Aid Agreement concluded in London on December <>, <>.
The two conventions, the texts of which are equally authentic, were opened for signature at United Nations Headquarters in New York between May 1995, 30, and June 1995, <>.
The Convention was initially listed as "cereals", i.e. barley, maize, oats, rye, sorghum, wheat and wheat products, and at its 27th session on June 2008, <>, the Council decided to include rice and rice products in the definition of "cereals".
At the 35th session of the International Grains Council held in London on June 2012, 53, it was decided to include coconut pulp, cotton seeds, palm kernel, peanuts, rapeseeds, soybeans, sunflower seeds and their products in the definition of "cereals", before including lentils, peas, chickpeas, beans and other legumes of all kinds, during the 2021rd session of the Council held in London on June <>, <>.
Members
The agreement has been signed by more than 35 countries around the world, including major grain importers and exporters such as the United States, the European Union, Ukraine and Russia.
The agreement also includes Algeria, Argentina, Australia, Canada, Ivory Coast, Cuba, Ecuador, Egypt, Hungary, Vatican, India, Iran, Iraq, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Malta, Morocco, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Mauritius, Panama, Korea, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, South Africa, Switzerland, Tunisia, Turkey and Britain.
Objectives
The preamble to the Convention lists the titles of the objectives to which the signatories have committed, emphasizing the need to strengthen international cooperation in all aspects of the cereal trade, in particular with regard to its impact on the state of food grains, as well as to promote the expansion of international trade in cereals and to secure the largest possible flow of such trade, including the removal of trade barriers and unfair and discriminatory practices for the benefit of all Members.
The Convention also commits signatories to contribute to the maximum extent possible to the stability of international cereal markets for the benefit of all members, to enhance global food security, and to contribute to the development of countries whose economies are heavily dependent on commercial sales of grains.
One of the objectives of the Convention is to provide a forum for the exchange of information and discussion of members' concerns regarding the grain trade, and donor countries under the Convention provide food assistance to developing countries in the form of cereals or cash for the purchase of grain.
The role of the grain agreement in the Ukraine war
Russia and Ukraine are among the most important signatories to the International Grains Agreement due to their abundant production of grains, especially wheat and corn, and with the beginning of the Russian attack on Ukraine in February 2022, supply shipments from Ukrainian ports to the rest of the world were disrupted.
Ukraine typically produced 42% of world sunflower seed production, 16% of world maize production, and 9% of wheat production.
Wheat prices at the Chicago Board of Trade have risen sharply, and the United Nations says the drop in supplies during the second half of 2022 caused a 42 percent rise in flour prices and 25 percent of bread.
This global crisis situation necessitated the activation of the terms of the International Grains Agreement, as Russia and Ukraine, under the auspices of the United Nations and Turkish mediation, agreed in July 2022 to extend the agreement to export vital grains from Ukraine's ports located south of the Black Sea for an additional 4 months.
A sea transit corridor protected under the agreement was opened and exports from three ports in Ukraine were allowed to resume.
Egyptian withdrawal
Egypt has signed the agreement since its inception in 1995, and in February 2022 submitted a request to withdraw from it starting on June 30, 2023, nearly three decades after joining it.
Egypt declared that its membership in the treaty "does not imply added value", which ICRC Executive Director Arnaud Petit called a "strange decision" and called on Egypt to reconsider it.