The International Lime Association (ILA) was founded on November 27, 1970, in Paris, France, by national lime associations and manufacturers of lime products from Belgium, Finland, Germany, Japan, South Africa, Sweden, United Kingdom and the USA. Throughout the decades, ILA has strongly expanded and today consists of 40 members from all continents.

The purpose of ILA is the exchange of information and experiences on all subjects that are of interest to the lime industry world-wide. These are the fields of environment, health and safety, economy and international co-operation, science, technology, research and standardisation. However, ILA shall have no standard-setting purpose.

For the improvement of the acceptance and visibility and a more efficient work, ILA has been registered as an association with legal identity at the beginning of 2011. It has also installed a permanent office, which is hosted by the Federation of German Lime Industry in Cologne, Germany.