The International Summit on Drugs in Sport was held on 14 - 17 November 1999 in Sydney, Australia. Twenty-five nations, the government of the European Commission, and four observers including the International Olympic Committee attended. The summit outcomes are set down in the Sydney Communiqué and its appendices (the Consultative Group on Anti-Doping and Summit Declaration on the WADA).

One of the most important outcomes of the summit was the decision to establish an interim International Intergovernmental Consultative Group on Anti-Doping (IICGAD). The establishment of the consultative group is an important mechanism for ensuring that countries who did not participate in the Summit can have their views fully reflected in the development of the World Anti-Doping Agency. The consultative group will also be an efficient and effective way of engaging with WADA to ensure that it becomes responsive to all our views.

IICGAD is responsible for conveying to the WADA Board the consensus views of summit participants that there should be:

• adequate and ongoing government participation in WADA’s activities;
• government representation from all geographic regions on the WADA Board; and
• amendments to the WADA statute, which provide for appropriate levels of independence, accountability and transparency.

The IICGAD’s terms of reference are:

• to carry forward and coordinate action on the outcomes of the Sydney summit, building on the momentum generated during the summit
• to resolve, as soon as possible, the process(es) for coordinated world-wide governmental participation in WADA, recognising that certain governments have already developed a process for participation in WADA based on their membership in other pre-existing inter-governmental arrangements. A longer-term objective may be to encourage and facilitate, on a regional basis, ongoing governmental participation in the activities of WADA
• to initiate a process to facilitate the harmonisation of policies in other areas of exclusive government jurisdiction or responsibility (i.e., customs regulations and policies, importation regulations, labeling of medications and supplements, harmonisation of legislation, treaties and other forms of inter-governmental agreement)
• to explore the need for, and develop the framework of, follow up inter-governmental conferences, and
• to encourage nations to develop high-quality national anti-doping policies and programs through the adoption of the IADA International Standard for Doping Control.