TN/AG/45  
TN/AG/SCC/15  
28 September  2020 
(20-6576) Page: 1/3 
Committee on Agriculture  
Special Session  
Sub-Committee on Cotton   
 
  
13TH DEDIC ATED DISCUSSION OF THE RELEVANT   
TRADE -RELATED  DEVELOPMENTS FOR COTTON  
30 JULY 2020 
Report1 by the Chair person , Ambassador  Gloria ABRAHAM PERALTA  
1.  Pursuant to the Bali Ministerial Decision on Cotton  of 7 December 20132 and the Nairobi 
Ministerial Decision on Cotton  of 19 December 20153, the 13th Dedicated Discussion of the Relevant 
Trade-Related Developm ents for Cotton  took place on 30 July 2020. The Dedicated Discussion was  
held back -to-back with the 3 3rd Round of the Director -General's Consultative Framework Mechanism 
on Cotton  (DGCFMC) de aling with  the development  assistance aspects of Cotton .  
2.  In my introductory remarks,  I stressed  that Cotton was a topic of key importance in the WTO 
in general and in the agriculture negotiations  more specifically , particularly for LDCs and African 
countries.  I also noted that  at a time when the question of transparency ha d become a central 
element of the discussions within the WTO, the dedicated discussions , although not a negotiation 
forum, provide d a unique opportunity to advance awareness and understanding of Members' Cotton 
trade-related policies from a WTO perspective  by foster ing constructive exchanges on the global 
Cotton market and factors affecting its efficient performance .  
3.  I congratulated Members , the WTO Secretariat and the partner organizations on the successful 
launch of the World Cotton Day  (WCD) last October . I invited Members not present at the launch 
event to watch the short WTO -produced video4 capturing a few  remarkable moments from the event  
complementing the report5 on the WCD Launch circulated by the Secretariat . The C4 asked the WTO 
Secretariat to organize a limited symbolic event on 7 October 2020 to mark the first anniversary of 
the WCD launch. The C4 had also been active interacting with other U nited Nations  (UN) members 
to facilitate the adoption of the draft UN resolution for recognizing  7 October as WCD at the next 
regular session of the UN General Assembly  scheduled for 15 September 2020 in New York.  
4.  I updated Members on the state of play in  the agriculture negotiations . I noted that my 
first task would be to take stock of the situation immed iately after the summer break, through a 
round of consultations . I would be particularly interested in hearing Members' view on the following 
aspects: (1) the lessons that ca n be drawn from the negotiation process before the pandemic, and 
the possible adju stments required in the current context;  (2) the negotiation priorities; and  (3) the 
deadlines for the different stages of consultations and negotiations . I noted my intention  to convene 
an informal CoA S pecial Session  meeting no later than the second half of September to report on 
my consultations and offer an opportunity to discuss collectively the way forward for MC12.  
5.  I noted that  Cotton, and in particular Cotton trade -distorting support would constitute an 
indispe nsable element of those consultations  and all the Members having a stake in this topic w ould 
 
1 This report is circulated under the Chair's own responsibility.  
2 Document WT/MIN(13)/41  - WT/L/916, dated 11 December 2013 . 
3 Document WT/MIN(15)/46  - WT/L/981, dated 21 December 2015 . 
4 https://www.youtube.com /watch?v=4QPUq -6pZdA .  
5 TN/AG/SCC/W/33  - WT/CFMC/61 , dated 20 July 2020.  TN/AG/45 • TN/AG/SCC/15  
- 2 - 
  be specifically invited to express their views on it . I would conside r holding a Cotton Quad Plus 
meeting in due course to exchange views on the way forward in the  Cotton negotiation.  
6.  I reminded Members of the Joint Statement6 on Cotton negotiations circulated by a group of 
Members during the High -Level Trade Session held on the occasion of the World Cotton Day launch 
last October. This statement confirmed the com mitment of participants to intensify discussions 
focusing on factors negatively impacting Cotton trade and markets and to continue efforts aimed at 
enhancing transparency and monitoring of Cotton -related trade measures affecting the global Cotton 
market.  I urged  Members to reflect on how to operationalize this commitment, in view of Members' 
past submissions as well as technical work undertaken in the Quad Plus context in 2019, including 
the Cotton-related data collection and illustrative calculation exerci ses.  
7.  I also reminded Members of the need to assess whether new elements could be envisaged on 
Cotton-related market access and export competition . I noted that inputs in relation to Cotton 
development assistance activities and Cotton by -products w ould be developed in the context of the 
DG's consultative framework mechanism on Cotton.  In concluding the report, I stressed that Cotton 
has often been referred to  as a litmus test  for the WT O and encouraged Members to take advantage 
of the summer break to reflect on possible new ideas and inputs to prepare the ground for future 
progress on this issue.  
8.  Under the agenda item " General Statements from Members ", Burkina Faso , on behalf of 
the C4, welcomed the WTO report s on COVID -19 and trade measures and  called for a comprehensive  
study on agriculture  support  and Cotton support in particular . The C4 noted that the pandemic ha d 
severely  impacted the Cotton sector , and that its  impact in the C4 countries  was especially  significant  
as a result of their LDC status. T he C4 had experienced major financial losses  and rising 
unemployment  due to the slowdown of activities in the textile industries , the closing of borders, the 
suspension of retai l sale  and the trade -distorting measures adopted at the international level in 
response to the pandemic . The C4  therefore  called  on WTO Members to lift all restrictive trade 
measures to facilitate the supply of essential medical goods and food products as well as  the exports 
of agricultural commodities, in particular for Cotton, which remain ed one of the main sources of 
income and employment for several LDCs.   
9.  The C4 also invited the WTO  Member s to extend  duty-free and quota -free access to imports 
of all Cotton and Cotton-derived products originat ing from LDCs and to transparently implement the 
Nairobi Decision on Export Competition . With the aim of achieving satisfactory results on Domestic 
Support for Cotton by MC12, the C4 suggested that  a precise timetable for negotiations  based on 
concrete proposals on the table should  be developed and followed  by all Members. The C4 also  called 
for Members' active follow up on the Joint Statement adopted at the  WCD Launch event and noted 
that the consultations  on Cotton trade -distorting support facilitated by Brazil  in 2019 could serve as 
a basis  to identify points of convergence with a view to reaching  an agreement at MC12.   
10.  The European Union  also noted  that the Cotton sector had been seriously damage d by the 
COVID -19 crisis and reaffirmed its commitment  to deliver on the negotiation mandate on Cotton. 
The EU urged  Members to implement the WCD Launch event Joint Statement and noted that as a 
first step Members should  improve transparenc y and provide  accurate notifications  and replies  to 
the Secretariat 's questionnaire . The EU noted its readiness to support reasonable and balanced 
proposal s and ca utioned that unrealistic and overambitious proposals would  lead to failure.  
11.  Brazil agreed with the EU on  seeking  realistic results . Brazil suggested to look for a specific 
solution for Cotton within the broader framework of Domestic Support negotiations, keeping in mind 
the mandate to address Cotton ambitiously, expeditiously and specifically.  
12.  Pakistan emphasized the importance of Cotton to its economy, noting that it contributes to 
55% of its foreign exchange earnings and provides livelihood to 1. 5 million farming families and jobs 
to 40% of its industrial labour force, among which a considerable number are women.  Pakistan noted 
that massive reforms had been introduced  in its Cotton sector in the last two decades  including  
withdrawal of  price suppo rt to Cotton growers and Cotton export corporation s, while the global world 
Cotton market situation showed a different picture . Pakistan noted that the subsidies  provided by 
developed countries had led to consistent decline  in its Cotton production and cultivation area and 
 
6 Document JOB/AG/165  - TN/AG/SCC/GEN/21 . TN/AG/45 • TN/AG/SCC/15  
- 3 - 
  called for  WTO Members'  swift and speedy action to  address trade -distorting support to enable its 
Cotton farmers  to fairly compete across the globe.  
13.  China echoed Pakistan's concern and noted that Cotton was also a vital contributor to poverty 
reduction and rural development in China where producers were mainly  smallholder farmers with 
low average farming land. China reiterated its view that reduction and elimination of AMS beyond 
de minimis  should be prioritized in negotiations. However, considering the persisting divergence s in 
Members' positions, China suggested to move forward on Cotton negotiations in the following 
two areas:  (1) encourage further conduct  of technical analysis on Cotton p roduction and 
international trade to fully understand the situation of all the Member s; and (2) invite Member s to 
propose realistic approaches for improving notifications and  transparency  practices with 
consideration of S&D provisions for developing  Member s, particularly LDCs . 
14.  The International Cotton Advisory Committee (ICAC)7 updated Members on the latest 
developments in the global Cotton  market  with a focus on: (1) w orld Cotton production, 
consumption, export and imports ; (2) Intra -African trade ; and (3) domestic support trends in 
Cotton.   
15.  Due to time constraint, I invited the WTO Secretariat to skip its presentation  on the revised 
background paper  and addenda8 and make it available online .9 The background paper compile s 
up-to-date information and data from Members' notifications and other submissions on Export 
Subsidies, Domestic Support and Market Access, including both tariff and non -tariff measures. The 
background paper also captures Members' latest responses to the q uestionnaire on Cotton  policy 
developments, as well as relevant information on Cotton  markets and policies included in Trade 
Policy Review reports . 
16.  I reiterated  that the quality of the background paper reli ed heavily on Members ' efforts in 
keeping their notifications up -to-date and being forthcoming with their submissions to the WT O. I 
reminded Members that new information related to Cotton policies c ould also be shared through 
replies to the Secretariat questionnaire  and strongl y encouraged Members to actively participate in 
this exercise.  
17.  An information session on COVID -19 and Cotton entitled "from facts to solutions " 
organized by the Secretariat at the request of the C4 and chaired by Deputy Director General Wolff 
was held imme diately after this meeting. The report on this information session will be circulated in 
a separate document.  
__________  
 
7 ICAC's presentation can be found on 
https://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/agric_e/cd307aftnooon_e/icac_e.pdf . 
8 Documents TN/AG/GEN/34/Rev. 11 - TN/AG/SCC/GEN/13/Rev. 11, TN/AG/GEN/34/Rev. 11/Add.1  - 
TN/AG/SCC/ GEN/13/Rev. 11/Add.1 and TN/AG/GEN/34/Rev. 11/Add.2  - TN/AG/SCC/GEN/13/Rev. 11/Add.2,  
dated 11 November  2019, and TN/AG/GEN/34/Rev. 11/Add. 3 - TN/AG/SCC/GEN/13/Rev. 11/Add. 3, 
dated  6 December 2019.  
9 The presentation is available on 
https://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/agric_e/cd307aftnooon_e/3ib_e.pdf .