Annual Session: IPC holds regular Sessions, at least once every financial year. Each member country is represented by a delegate with plenipotentiary power. If necessary, one or more alternates may also be appointed. The Community also regularly holds three different Meetings to evolve its policies and programmes. These Meetings address themselves to issues relating to techno-economic studies, farming and production and export promotion. The Meetings are:
 

The Peppertech Meeting: is IPC’s permanent panel on techno-economic studies on pepper. This technical forum meets at least once a year and sets the framework of guidelines for the Community’s operational agenda. The purpose of the meeting is to study, identify and evolve solutions for problems faced by the pepper industry in the areas of production, processing, marketing and product development.
 

The Meeting of Pepper Exporters’ is held regularly before Session to discuss the pepper economy, current production situation, domestic consumption, exports, imports, prices, prospects, problems and other matters related to the pepper trade.
 

Pepperexim Meeting, is a meeting amongst producers and exporters with importers, traders and grinders of pepper. The meeting discusses various aspects of pepper such as supply and demand situation in each producing and importing country, quality improvements and quality control, possible use of technology in improving pepper quality and information exchange.
 

IPC Committee on Quality Standardization: The International Pepper Community has constituted a Committee on Quality Standardization during the Special Meeting held at Jakarta in 1998. The committee is comprised of experts from the industry as well as official representatives from the member countries. Through this Committee, IPC has established IPC Grades and Standards, including a Manual of Methods of Analyses and A Guideline on Good Manufacturing Practices for Pepper Establishments. A program of activities has been planned to make the use of these Standards more effective, including:

1. A proposal to train laboratory and other personnel involved in quality testing; the proposal seeks FAO funding for the training to be held in member countries;
2. An Inter-Lab Proficiency Testing Program for all labs involved in analysis of pepper quality from member countries; at present labs from Malaysia, India and Indonesia are participating in this program;
3. Promotion of the IPC Standards among producing and consuming countries;
4. Representation to national and international agencies involved in setting standards so that the views of producing countries are given due significance.
    

IPC Committee on Marketing: IPC has formed a Committee on Marketing to evolve joint programmes for generic promotion of pepper among the member countries, with the IPC as the nodal agency for coordination and implementation of the programmes mooted. The Committee operates in these functional areas:

Publications: IPC regularly compiles and disseminates information pertaining to pepper and the world pepper economy by number of means, including:

1. Weekly Prices Bulletin which is published every Friday furnishes information on current price trends at origins, prevailing spot prices as well as futures prices pepper at the main trading centres namely New York and in Europe. Some data on trade and other up-to-date information related to the development of pepper is also included.
2. Pepper News & Market Review which provides with news of interest, related to the pepper community and also a review on the pepper market situation and trends during the previous month. This publication is circulated free of charge to the subscribers of Weekly Prices Bulletin
3. Focus on Pepper: is a half-yearly publication (formerly published as International Pepper News Bulletin), presenting technical articles on the production, processing and product development of pepper industry. Notes on research, news and selected trade statistics are also included in this publication.
4. Directory of Exporters and Importers: lists out exporters and importers complete with their particulars such as address, telephone, fax, email, contact persons and products etc. The Director is indexed by products, company, activity and country name. Other useful information is also included in the Directory (on CD).
    

Cooperation on Research and Development Activities: IPC encourages cooperation in research and development activities among member countries through seminars and workshops presenting and sharing research findings (e.g.. a Symposium on Pests and Diseases of Pepper held in September 2002 in Kuching, Sarawak), publication of research findings, exchange of genetic material, building a reference database of scientists who are working on, or have worked on pepper and the annual Peppertech Meeting.