History of the ICC

ICC's origins

ICC was founded in 1919 with an overriding aim that remains unchanged: to serve world business by promoting trade and investment, open markets for goods and services, and the free flow of capital.

Much of ICC's initial impetus came from its first President, Etienne Clémentel, a former French Minister of Commerce. He established ICC's headquarters in Paris, and was
instrumental in creating the ICC International Court of Arbitration in 1923.

Since those early days, when business leaders from wartime allied nations met for the first time in Atlantic City, ICC has changed beyond recognition. The original nucleus,
representing the private sectors of Belgium, France, Italy, the UK and the US, has expanded to become the world business organisation, with thousands of member companies and organisations in more than 130 countries. Members include many of the largest
international companies and represent every major industrial and service sector.

The voice of international business

ICC has always made representations on behalf of business to governments and intergovernmental organisations. Three prominent ICC members served on the Dawes
Commission which forged the international treaty on war reparations in 1924, seen as a breakthrough in international relations at the time.

A year after the creation of the UN in 1945, ICC was granted first class consultative status with the UN and its specialised agencies. Ever since, ICC has ensured that the international business view received due weight within the UN system and before intergovernmental bodies and meetings such as the G8 where decisions affecting the conduct of business are made.

Defender of the multilateral trading system

ICC's reach - and the complexity of its work - have kept pace with the globalisation of business and technology. In the 1920s ICC focused on reparations and war debts. A decade later, it helped hold back the tide of protectionism and economic nationalism during the depression years. When the war came in 1939, ICC assured continuity by transferring its operations to neutral Sweden, and remained a diligent defender of the liberal multilateral trading system in the post-war years.

As membership grew to include more and more countries of the developing world, ICC stepped up demands for the opening of world markets to the products of developing
countries. ICC continues to argue that trade is better than aid. Throughout the later decades of the last century, ICC resisted the resurgence of protectionism in new guises such as reciprocal trading arrangements, voluntary export restraints, and curbs introduced under the euphemism of "managed trade".

Challenges of the 21st century

After the disintegration of Communism in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union, ICC faced fresh challenges as the free market system won wider acceptance than ever before, and countries that had hitherto relied on state intervention switched to privatisation and
economic liberalisation.

In the 21st century, companies look to ICC as they meet the challenges of globalisation and adjust to a world in which the state’s role in the economy is no longer pre-eminent. Building on its experience in promoting an open international trade and investment system, ICC is adapting its rules and codes of conduct to today’s business conditions and introducing new ones. In particular it is creating rules and principles to meet the requirements of electronic commerce.

A common thread running through each Commission, from banking technique to financial services and taxation, from competition law to intellectual property rights,
telecommunications and IT to transport and trade policy is self-regulation. The conviction that business operates most effectively with a minimum of government intervention inspired ICC's voluntary codes. For example, its marketing codes cover sales promotion, advertising, direct marketing and environmental advertising, and marketing in cyberspace. ICC’s Business Charter for Sustainable Development provides principles for good environmental
conduct that have been endorsed by more than 2,300 organisations worldwide.

Practical services to business

ICC adapts its services to meet the changing needs of business. Some examples are:

• Annual international conferences and congresses
• Dispute resolution: The ICC International Court of Arbitration is now the longest established ICC institution, and the world's leading body for resolving international
  commercial disputes by arbitration.
• UCP: ICC's Uniform Customs and Practice for Documentary Credits first came out in 1933. Today these rules are used by banks throughout the world. A supplement to UCP 500, the eUCP, was added in 2002 to deal with the presentation of all electronic or part electronic documents. A revision of UCP500 is currently underway.
• ICC Incoterms: ICC published the first nine Incoterms in 1936 providing standard definitions of universally employed terms like Ex quay, CIF and FOB. They have been revised whenever necessary, and the current version is ICC Incoterms 2000.
• ICC World Chambers Federation (WCF): The WCF was created in 1951, known as the International Bureau of Chambers of Commerce. It is now a focal point for cooperation between chambers of commerce in developing and industrial countries. The WCF also administers the ATA Carnet system for temporary duty-free imports, which dates from 1958.
• ICC Institute of World Business Law: Created in 1979, the Institute studies legal issues relating to international business. For example, the Institute holds an annual conference
  on audiovisual law at the Cannes film festival.
• Commercial Crime Services (CCS): CCS was set up to deal with all types of maritime crime, counterfeiting, fraud, and other commercial crime.