History

From SYNCIBE to OSCI: 50 years of history for International Entrepreneurs
SYNCIBE in the 1970s and OSCI are part of a long history, building on the legacy of the ‘Chambre Syndicale des Négociants-Commissionnaires et du Commerce Extérieur’, established in Paris in 1876, and subsequently the Fédération Nationale des Syndicats des Sociétés de Commerce Extérieur (FNSCE), founded in 1968 and based at the CNPF in Paris (16th arrondissement).

Since 1998, the Syndicat des Négociants et Commissionnaires à l’international (SNCI) and the OSCI have worked in close collaboration.

In the 1970s, under the government of Jacques Chirac, Jean-Pierre Fourcade initiated, within the CNPF – now known as the Mouvement des entreprises de France (MEDEF) – the creation of the ‘Syndicat des Sociétés de Commerce Internationale ayant des Bureaux à l’Étranger’ (SYNCIBE). This organisation brought together, for the first time, major foreign trade companies and the leading international trade banks within a single structure.

In the early 2000s, the need to strengthen the representation of specialist international trade operators led to the creation of an organisation bringing together the OSCI – Specialised International Trade Operators – which included, in particular, International Trade Companies (SCI) and International Support Companies (SAI).

An Extraordinary General Meeting was convened on 4 January 2006 to bring together into a single entity.

The OSCI’s inaugural meeting was held on 22 February 2006. In November 2013, Etienne Vauchez became president of the OSCI; he was re-elected in February 2017.
From January 2020 to December 2025, Chloé Berndt and Hervé Druart served as co-presidents.

Since January 2026, the presidency has been held by Gaelle Baldet-Ladan and Augustin Bonniol.

To consult the history of French external trade companies, drafted by Jean-Claude Abeillon, click here.