The first World Fertilizer Congress of the newly founded CIEC was held in 1938 in Rome. 

In four sessions the economics, production, distribution and consumption of commercial fertilizers were discussed at a world-wide scale.

In those early days of CIEC’s activities important contributions on the role of mineral fertilizers for the improvement of agricultural production were made by the first Secretary General, Prof. Franco Angelini, from the University of Naples and CIEC’s first President, Dr. E. Feisst, Minister of the Swiss government in Berne. Both have formed CIEC to a respected international scientific centre dealing with fertilizers.