WT/MIN(24)/10  
 
 16 February  2024 
(24-1421) Page: 1/4 
Ministerial Conference  
Thirteenth Session  
Abu Dhabi, 26 -29 February 202 4   
 
 
IMPLEMENTATION OF THE TRADE -RELATED COMPONENTS OF COTTON  
PROGRESS REPORT BY THE DIRECTOR -GENERAL TO THE 1 3TH MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE  
1.   Paragraph 11 of the Bali Ministerial Decision on Cotton ( WT/MIN(13)/41 ), adopted by Members 
on 7 December 2013, invites " the Director General to continue to provide periodic reports on the 
development assistance aspects of cotton, and to report on the progress that has been made in 
implementing the trade -related components of the 2005 Hong Kong Ministerial Declaration, at each 
WTO Ministerial Conference ". This report, drafted in response to that mandate, is being forwarded 
for Ministers' consideration at the T hirteen  Ministerial Conference.  
2.   The report  covers: (1) the Dedicated Discussions of the relevant trade -related developments for 
cotton  mandated by the Bali and Nairobi D ecision s; and (2) the state of play of the negotiations on 
cotton  as of 30 January 2024 . This report follows the previous progress reports  on the 
implementation of the trade -related components of cotton in documents WT/MIN(15)/12 , 
WT/MIN(17)/13  and WT/MIN(22)/5 . This report is complementary to, and should be read in 
conjunction with, my latest periodic report on the development assistance aspects of cotton.1  
I.  DEDICATED  DICUSSIONS OF THE RELEVANT TRADE -RELATED DEVELOPMENTS FO R 
COTTON  
3.   Since the 1 2th Ministerial Conference (MC1 2) in Geneva , three Dedicated Discussions of the 
relevant trade -related developments for cotton have taken place .2 
4.   These Dedicated Discussion s were held  in the context of the Committee on  Agriculture in S pecial 
Session and were organized back -to-back with the Director -General's Consultative Framework 
Mechanism on the development aspects of Cotton, as WTO " Cotton Days". 
5.   The Dedicated Discussion s are regularly  informed by backg round papers by the Secretariat3 
which compile information and data from Members' notifications and other submissions to the WTO 
on export subsidies, domestic support,  and market access, including both tariff and non -tariff 
measures. The Secretariat background papers also include information  on relevant recent policy 
developments shared by Members in their reply to a  questionnaire, as well as relevant information 
on cotton markets and policies from Trade Policy Review reports.  
6.   Members have continued to benefit from presentat ions by the International Cotton Advisory  
Committee (ICAC)  on global cotton market and trade trends , as well as on recent developments 
relating to government measures affecting  cotton . These presentations are highly appreciated by 
Members and elicit great interest.  
7.   Similarly, Members welcomed at the 18th Dedicated Discussion a presentation by t he Food and 
Agriculture Organization of the United Nation s on their study4 entitled "the C -4 countries in the 
 
1 WT/GC/260  - WT/CFMC/DG/10  - WT/MIN(24)/1 , circulated  on 30 November 2023.  
2 9 November 202 2, 16 May 202 3, and 7 November 2023 . The Chair reports on these meetings can be 
found respectively in TN/AG/ 55 - TN/AG/SCC/ 20, dated 1 3 December  2022; TN/AG/ 56 - TN/AG/SCC/ 21, dated 
22 August  2023; and TN/AG/ 57 - TN/AG/SCC/ 22, dated 18 December  2023.  
3 TN/AG/GEN/34  - TN/AG/SCC/GEN/13  and its revisions and addendums.  
4 FAO's presentation can be found here.  WT/MIN(24)/10  
 
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  context of the global cotton market situation short - and medium -term outlook"5 which focuses on 
the cotton sector's potential to advance the livelihood of households in developing countries.  
8.   The International Trade Centre (ITC)  has also continued to  contribute to the Dedicated 
Discussions by briefing Members on the latest updates on the Cotton Portal  as well as statistics on 
the tool's use across the world . The Cotton Por tal, launched jointly by the ITC and the WTO at the 
11th Ministerial Conference in Buenos Aires , provides a single -entry point for cotton -specific 
information on market access, trade statistics, business contacts and development assistance, hence 
facilitating trade in cotton and the monitoring of Members' market access commitments.  The I TC 
noted the need to upgrade the Porta l while Members  confirmed the usefulness of the platform for 
cotton trade and called for more trainings on this tool. Further to Members' request, a first French -
speaking webinar6 on the Portal was held back -to-back with the 20th Dedicated Discussion. A s imilar 
English -speaking event will follow.  
9.   At the 19th Dedicated Discussion, Members benefitted from an introduction7 to the ePhyto 
Solution  by the Standards and Trade Development Facility (STDF) Secretariat . The ePhyto is  a digital 
system specifically designed to aid developing countries in issuing electronic certificates for 
agricultural products, streamlining customs clearanc e processes.  Côte d'Ivoire subsequently shared 
its experience8 in successfully implementing the ePhyto system to facilitate its cotton trade.    
10.   A first written submission by Mali was made under " COVID -19 and Cotton ", a standing item 
that has been added to the agenda  of the Dedicated Discussions since  the November 2021 meeting . 
Highlight ing the lingering social and economic impact of the pandemic on African cotton -producing 
countries, the C-4 asked to maintain the  item as a standard item on the agen da with a broader 
scope that would allow Members to cover other factors significantly impacting the cotton market.  
II.  NEGOTIATIONS  
11.   Following MC12 and the departure of H.E. Mrs. Gloria Abraham Peralta of Costa Rica, Members  
designat ed H.E. Mr. A lparsan Ac arsoy of Türkiye as the new Chair of the CoA  Special Session  
(CoA-SS). 
12.   Like h is predecessor s, the Chair emphasized on several occasions the commitment made by 
Members  20 years ago to address cotton "ambitiously, expeditiously and specifically within the 
agriculture negotiations ". The Chair  also acknowledged that while outcomes had been delivered on 
export competition, market access and transparency enhancement in relation to cotton at the 9th 
and 10th Ministerial Conferences held successively in 2013 and 2015 in Bali and Nairobi , Members 
had not been able to make progress on the central issue of trade -distorting domestic support 
provided to cotton producers . 
13.   The Chair facilitated the negotiations on cotton as part of the overall agriculture negotiations 
in the context of the CoA -SS meetings, complemented by bilateral consultations with interested 
Members and small -group consultations in the standard  cotton quadrilateral plus - "Quad Plus"9 – 
format . Discussions at the bi -annual Dedicated Discussions of the  relevant trade -related 
developments for cotton also inform the negotiations.  
14.   Cotton was covered by several Members' submissions. This was notably the case in the Cairns 
Group submission in JOB/AG/245  entitled "Agreement on Agriculture: the Amber and Blue Box, 
product -specific concentrations of support" circulated on 23 June 2023 , which included cotton as one 
of the case stud ies illustrating high product -specific concentration, with the cumulated value  of 
 
5 The study can be found on  
The Cotton -4 (C-4) countries in the context of the global cotton market: Situation and short - and 
medium -term outlook (fao.org) . 
6 A video recording of the webinar can be accessed here.  
7 The presentation by the STDF can be accessed here. 
8 The presentation by Côte d'Ivoire  can be accessed here.  
9 C-4, Argentina, Australia, Brazil, China, Colombia, India, European Union, Pakistan,  and the 
United  States, plus Türkiye  since 2020. The Chair convened two meetings in this configuration on 20 April and 
20 November 2023.  WT/MIN(24)/10  
 
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  Amber and Blue Box support representing around USD 5 billion in 2019 or 7.3% of the total value 
of production, and four Members providing around 95% of that support.  
15.   Cotton was also explicitly addressed in the  communication  by Costa Rica in JOB/AG/243  entitled 
"Towards a strengthened negotiation framework in the domestic support pillar  - Building a 
comprehensive approach to the negotiation on domestic support" , subsequently revised as a 
communication by the Cairns Group circulated on 2 November 2023 in JOB/AG/243/Rev.1  and on 
12 January 2024 in JOB/AG/243/Rev.2 . 
16.   This communication  proposes  a cap on product -specific trade -distorting domestic support  at 
maximum levels proportionate to Members' importer or exporter status and respective levels of 
import as a share of domestic consumption or world export market share. According to this proposal, 
more than 70% of cotton exports (corresponding to exports by the United States, Brazil,  and India) 
would be subject to a product -specific  limit of 10% of the value of production.  
17.   Other communications  on domestic support also address cotton through their proposed  
provisions on product -specific aggregate measuremen t of support without mentioning it explicitly . 
This is the case of the  proposal by the African Group and Pakistan in JOB/AG/242/ Rev.1 
(27 July 2023) and the  proposal by India in JOB/AG/216/Rev.1  (16 October 2023) which  emphasize 
the need  to first address the AMS granted to cotton beyond the de minimis  level and oppose any 
new disciplines on de minimis  for developing country Members without Final Bound Total AMS . The 
proposal by the African Group and Pakistan also included a possible capping of Blue Box product -
specific support.  
18.   The C-4 and Côte d'Ivoire  circulated on 10 November 2023 a proposal for  a Ministerial outcome 
on Cotton at MC13 . The proposal, which builds on past proposals by the Group seeks to impose a 
limit on th e sum of AMS and Blue Box cotton-specific support to ensure that it is below the de 
minimis  threshold. It further seeks to impose a numerical cap on the level of cotton-specific AMS 
through a tiered reduction formula and to eliminate Green Box Direct payme nts for cotton producers. 
The C -4 was supported by some groups of developing countries.  
19.   It is the view of some Members that a s an outcome on cotton domestic support should be part 
of a holistic and comprehensive outcome in agriculture, Members should engag e in a progressive 
step-by-step process considering  the remaining fault -lines, and first explore ways to enhance 
transparency.  
20.   The view has also been expressed that it is necessary to differentiate between the various 
categories of support granted to cott on producers, namely AMS, Blue Box and Green Box support 
considering  their respective characteristics. Some Members have also noted that market access 
should also be taken into consideration in these negotiations. Finally, Members have also recognized, 
as embodied in the 2003 Cotton Initiative, the coherence between the trade and development 
aspects of the cotton issue, as part of a "two -track" approach.  
21.   The Chair subsequently circulated in January  2024 a first draft text on agriculture10 aimed at 
facilita ting the negotiations amongst Members with a view to agreeing on an agricultural outcome 
by MC13. The draft text  included two sections on the cotton  trade- and development -related 
components .  
22.   The draft text  proposes  that Members undertake to pursue and intensify negotiations on cotton 
trade-related measures in line with the mandate to address it ambitiously, expeditiously and 
specifically within the agriculture negotiations , in particular with a view to reduce substantially trade -
distorting domestic supp ort for cotton in accordance with modalities that would be agreed and 
adopted by Members by MC14 . 
23.   The text was introduced and discussed for the first time by the WTO Membership during the 
CoA-SS on 30 January 2024.  
 
10 RD/AG/128 , dated 29 January 2024  WT/MIN(24)/10  
 
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  24.   The C -4 subsequently shared with the Membership the text of the C -4 plus Côte d'Ivoire  
Ministerial Declaration adopted in Koudougou (Burkina Faso) on 25 January 2024 in TN/AG/ GEN/55 -
TN/AG/SCC/GEN/26 , circulated on 16 February 2024.  
III.  CONCLUSION  
25.   This i s the fourth progress report by a Director General to a Ministerial Conference on the 
implementation of the trade -related components of cotton , and my second as Director -General . 
These reports came to the same conclusions: acknowledge the good work undertaken under the 
Dedicated Discussions on cotton and regret the absence of progress in the negotiations.  
26.   The Dedicated Discussions have indeed become over time a well -recognized "ren dez-vous" 
contributing to  enhanc ed transparency , by providing regular update s on the evolution of the cotton 
market and  trade-related policy developments in th e sector , thus usefully informing the trade -
related negotiations on cotton.  
27.   On the negotiations thus far, the conclusion remains unfortunately the same: despite the 
commitment made over 20 years ago to address this topic ambitiously, expeditiously,  and specifically 
within the agriculture negotiations , WTO Members are yet to  make progress on the critic al issue of 
trade-distorting support to cotton. Persistent distortions in international markets impede the fair 
participation of many cotton -producing countries. As I said on the World Cotton Day celebrations in 
Vienna on 4 October 2023, "this is a collect ive failure of the Membership, one there is no running 
away from".  
28.   The 13th Ministerial Conference will offer once more a window of opportunity for Members to 
define what they consider to be an appropriate outcome, in particular in relation to cotton trade -
distorting domestic support as part of an overall agriculture and food security package.  
29.   I sincerely hope that , after their failure to do so at MC12, Ministers will this time be able to 
collectively agree  on reinvigorat ing their work and provide a clear s ense of direction with a view to 
achieving concrete outcomes on cotton by  the next Ministerial Conference to be held for the second 
time in history on the African continent.  
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