The International Dairy Agreement (IDA)replaced the International Dairy Arrangement, which had been established in 1980. Its primary function was to expand and liberalize world trade in dairy products through international cooperation.
On January 1, 1995, the IDA was placed under the aegis of the World Trade Organization. Its members included Argentina, Bulgaria, the European Union, Japan, New Zealand, Romania, Switzerland, and Uruguay. The United States, which had been one of the original members, withdrew from the organization in 1985 to protest sales by the European Union of butter and other basic dairy products at prices below the minimum export prices established by the Committee on Certain Milk Products that, along with the International Dairy Council, administered the Arrangement. The International Dairy Council suspended minimum prices for dairy products in 1995.
The IDA was terminated, by decision of the International Dairy Council, as of January 1, 1998.