Because world-wide concern with the perceived degradation of cork quality had a tremendous impact on the cork industry, a group of U.S. cork suppliers founded the Cork Quality Council (CQC) in 1992. Its mission was to improve the quality of corks at the source, to develop an educational program to assist wineries and to develop industry standards for cork quality. The CQC has been a major influence in persuading cork producers that it was in their own best interests to monitor cork production in a stringent fashion.