. /.WORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONWT/GC/74
10 November 2003
(03-5983)
General Council
21 October 2003Original:  French
STATEMENT BY BENIN ON BEHALF OF THE FOUR CO-SPONSORS
OF THE SECTORAL INITIATIVE IN FAVOUR OF COTTON
The following communication, dated 21 October 2003, has been received by the Chairman of
the General Council from the Permanent Mission of Benin.
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I have the honour to attach hereto the text of the statement made at the General Council
meeting on 21 October 2003 by the delegation of Benin, on behalf of the four co-sponsors of the
sectoral initiative in favour of cotton.
As indicated during the proceedings of the General Council, the four co-sponsors of the
sectoral initiative in favour in cotton, supported by the African Group, request that the text of the
statement be reflected in the minutes of the General Council's proceedings (meeting of
21 October 2003) and circulated to all Members by the WTO Secretariat.
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Following Cancún, the post-Doha trade negotiation process has resumed.
We are convinced that, with the commitment of the Members, the process will regain its pace,
and although it may appear to flounder and stall at times, it will continue to advance, slowly perhaps,
but surely.
In accordance with the mandate given to us by our Ministers in Cancún, we must continue
working on outstanding issues with a renewed sense of urgency and motivation, taking full account of
all the views expressed at Cancún, in preparation for the holding of a successful meeting of the
General Council at Senior Officials level by 15 December 2003 to relaunch the Doha Round ofnegotiations.
Among the sensitive issues to be addressed first, and which could help get the Geneva process
back on track, our countries have recognized four main areas:  agriculture, the sectoral initiative in
favour of cotton, non-agricultural market access and the Singapore issues.
With regard to the sectoral initiative in favour of cotton, the delegation of Benin had
requested the WTO, on its return from Cancún:
- To circulate to Members the text of paragraph 27 of the Draft Ministerial Text
(JOB(03)/150/Rev.2 of 13 September 2003), drawn up on the basis of the generalWT/GC/74
Page 2
observations and remarks expressed when examining the initiative at the meeting of
Heads of Delegation held on 13 September 2003 in Cancún;  and
- to include the sectoral initiative in favour of cotton for examination in the
forthcoming meetings of the Special Session of the Committee on Agriculture, theTrade Negotiations Committee and the General Council.
This document was circulated by the WTO as WT/GC/W/516 on 7 October 2003.Following the preliminary informal consultations organized by you, Mr. Chairman, on the
sectoral initiative in favour of cotton, and after consultations with various regional groups and
individual delegations which supported this effort  (the ACP Group, the African Group and the LDC
Group), the four countries that co-sponsored the initiative, in a spirit of flexibility and compromise,
agree to your continuing, in close cooperation with the different parties concerned, the consultations
that you initiated.
The four co-sponsors therefore accept that the agenda item on the sectoral initiative in favour
of cotton should not be discussed during today's General Council meeting.
We accept your proposal, Mr. Chairman, to pursue consultations on this matter.  However, we
wish to stress that given the deadline of 15 December 2003, these consultations should not continue
for an unreasonable length of time, and that their results should be reported to the General Council inthe near future so that a ruling can be made.
Indeed, Article IV.2 of the Marrakesh Agreement Establishing the WTO stipulates that the
General Council shall be the organ responsible for carrying out the functions of the Ministerial
Conference in the intervals between meetings of the Ministerial Conference.
The understanding remains that at every stage of the process leading to the General Council
meeting recommended by our Ministers for 15 December at the latest, the sectoral initiative in favour
of cotton should be considered one of the four sensitive issues to be given priority, alongside
agriculture, non-agricultural market access and the Singapore issues.
Furthermore, in the light of the progress made in the examination of this issue, the four
countries co-sponsoring the sectoral initiative in favour of cotton reserve the right to request, if
necessary, that this sectoral initiative be included on the agenda and examined in the next meeting of
the General Council and other relevant WTO bodies.
Finally, the four countries co-sponsoring the sectoral initiative in favour of cotton, backed by
other regional groups, notably the African Group, request that this statement be reflected in the report
on today's meeting and that copies of the text be circulated by the WTO Secretariat to all the
Members.
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