The International Chamber of Commerce
This paper is an evaluation of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), its mission, its history, its locations and its relevance and effectiveness. Etienne ClTmente founded the organization in 1919 in with a secretariat in Paris. The original nucleus, Belgium, Britain, France, Italy and the United States is now a world business organization with ties to approximately 130 countries. The thousands of member enterprises and national associations include many of the world's most influential companies. In total, they represent every major industrial and service sector.
There is no formal mission statement in any of the material perused in the preparation of this paper. The closest thing to a mission statement is the first sentence in the section of the ICC web site entitled, "The ICC's origins".
"The International Chamber of Commerce 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."
The underlying mission is the promotion of free market economies, globalization and free trade. Its activities include:
The ICC is first and foremost a lobbying organization on an international basis both to national governments and to the United Nations. It is unabashedly a free trade, free market economy advocate. One of the organizations cornerstones is business self-regulation. Its individual members are almost ent
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