After a year and a half of negotiation the new International Coffee Agreement (ICA), which provides the mandate for the International Coffee Organization, has been agreed upon. Notable inclusions in the new ICA include: * Recognition of the relationship between a sustainable coffee market and achievement of the Millenium Development Goals; * Objectives to develop a sustainable coffee sector in economic, social and environmental terms and enhance the capacity of local communities and small-scale farmers to benefit from coffee production; * Acknowledgement of the importance of establishing and strengthening cooperation with NGOs; * A new article on the ICA's project work, which has included efforts to improve farmers' productivity and sustainability; * Creation of a new 'Consultative Forum on Coffee Sector Finance' which will bring together experts to discuss finance and risk management with a emphasis on the needs of small and medium scale producers and local communities; and * Expansion of the ICO's role in disseminating information about the coffee supply chain with emphasis on facilitating access to information by small coffee producers to assist them in improving their financial performance. For those interested, the new ICA can be found here: http://dev.ico.org/documents/wpwgfa3r8e.pdf