ECRO was inaugurated in 1970 at the International Summer Course on Odour Perception, in Utrecht, with the aim of promoting and co-ordinating research in chemoreception.
It was officially registered in Paris in 1971 and although it began as a European venture, it now has members from outside Europe and sees its function as world-wide. It encourages a multi-disciplinary approach to research in chemoreception.

Since 1978 ECRO has been affiliated with UNESCO.