TN/AG/SCC/W/24  
WT/CFMC/52  
 
24 March 2016  
(16-1723)  Page: 1/4  
 Sub-Committee on Cotton    
 
IMPLEMENTATION OF THE DEVELOPMENT ASSISTANCE ASPECTS OF THE  
COTTON-RELATED DECISIONS IN THE 2004 JULY PACKAGE AND  
PARAGRAPH 12 OF THE HONG KO NG MINISTERIAL DECLARATION 
ITEM 2C - COHERENCE BETWEEN TRADE AND DEVELOPMENT ASPECTS:  
UPDATE ON THE DEVELOPMENT ASPECTS OF COTTON 
Report of the 24th Round of the Director-General's  
Consultative Framework Mechanism on Cotton1 
27 November 2015 
  
 
1  INTRODUCTION  
1.1  The 24
th Round of the Director-General's Consultative Framework Mechanism on Cotton 
(DGCFMC) took place on 27 November 2015.  
1.2  The Chairman (Deputy Director-General David Shark) welcomed all participants to the 
meeting, in particular the C4 representatives.  
STATEMENT BY THE C4 COORDINATOR  
1.3  Ambassador Thiam Diallo (Mali), speaking on behalf of the C4 countries and all other cotton-
producing countries from Africa, LDCs and ACP, expressed her concern that no notable progress on 
the cotton issue in the agriculture negotiations had been registered. She expressed 
disappointment at the lack of encouraging prospect s for a meaningful solution of the cotton dossier 
at the Ministerial Conference in Nairobi. She und erscored the C4's confidence in the multilateral 
trading system in bringing about solutions to the African cotton sector and called on all Members 
to take further commitments in order to achieve an effective result on the issue, commensurate to 
the needs of the cotton-dependent countries. 
1.4  She noted with satisfaction the progress ma de in the commitments/disbursements ratio as 
reflected in the Evolving Table on Cotton Develo pment Assistance and the optimistic projections 
for cotton production in Africa. She highlighted, ho wever, that the downward trend of international 
cotton prices was having negative knock-on effects on the African cotton production chain. She thanked China for its support to enable the participation of the C4 focal points in the DGCFMC, and 
encouraged all interested parties, including developed and developing country Members, to 
nominate their focal points in order to set up a network and build synergies through the Consultative Framework Mechanism. 
1.5  Ambassador Thiam Diallo announced that the C4 countries would be submitting regional and 
sub-regional projects on cotton, such as the "Co tton Road" project, the terms of reference of which 
would be finalized shortly.   
                                               
1 This document has been prepared under the Secret ariat's own responsibility and is without prejudice 
to the positions of Members or to thei r rights and obligations under the WTO. TN/AG/SCC/W/24 • WT/CFMC/52 
 
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  COTTON PRODUCTION AND TRADE TRENDS 
1.6  The Executive Director of the International Cotton Advisory Committee (ICAC), Mr. José Sette, 
gave an elaborate presentation on the opportunities and challenges for the cotton sector in Africa 
in the next five years. He detailed the evolution of production, yields, exports and mill use which 
showed marked regional differences across the continent. He underscored that 80% of cotton 
production of leading African producers was exported, which represented a cash inflow of US$2 billion in the past season. He stressed that, as yields in Africa were very low (roughly half of 
the world average), there was room for improvement in that area. He made reference to the 
devaluation of the Central African CFA franc since 2014, which had contributed to some extent to compensate the recent fall in international prices.  
1.7  As regards cotton imports, China continued to be the world's top consumer, with 30% of the 
world share, although the volume of its imports had been diminishing considerably in the past 
seasons. That drop had been partially compensated by increased imports of other countries, namely Bangladesh, Indonesia and Viet Nam. That situation was having an impact on Africa's 
exporters given that Africa's share in China's imports had fallen from 21% to 8% at present. He 
pointed to the need for addressing inefficient logistics in Africa, in particular with respect to delivery times, in order to benefit fr om opportunities in new markets.  
1.8  The Ambassador of Benin intervened to request the ICAC Executive Director if he could 
provide in future presentations individual statisti cs by countries showing exports by destination as 
well as imports by origin. Moreover, he stressed that additional information on cotton products and by-products with added value that could supplement data on raw cotton lint, would also be useful. 
DIRECTOR-GENERAL'S EVOLVING TABLE ON COTTON DEVELOPMENT ASSISTANCE 
1.9  The Chairman, in introducing item 4 of the agenda, made reference to the 20
th version of the 
Evolving Table (ET), circulated to Members by the Director-General on 27 October 2015 and 
contained in document WT/CFMC/6/Rev.19. He invited Mr. Gerardo Melogno, from the 
Secretariat's Development Division, to highlight th e key points of the latest revision of the ET. 
1.10  Mr. Gerardo Melogno informed participants that the latest version of the Evolving Table had 
been prepared on the basis of inputs from Australia, Brazil, the European Union and some of its 
member States, and the United States. Inputs had also been received from the IMF. He noted that it had not been possible to include the submissi on by the World Bank, but that it would be 
reflected in the next revision of the ET.  
1.11  He highlighted that in Part I of the ET, co ncerning the ongoing activities of cotton specific 
development assistance, the number of beneficiaries had decreased from 30 to 28, and the total value of commitments had declined from US$247 million to US$226 million. Conversely, the total 
value of disbursements had increased to US$102 million from US$92 million. He underlined that 
the ratio of total disbursements to total commitments had increased from 37% to 45%.  
1.12  With respect to Part II of the ET, concerning  ongoing activities in the broader framework of 
agriculture and infrastructure-related developmen t assistance, he underscored that the value of 
commitments had decreased from US$4.85 billion in the previous version to US$4.78 billion in the revised version. The total value of disbursements had increased to US$3 billion and the ratio of total disbursements to total commitments had climbed to 63%. 
1.13  Regarding information on completed activities, he reported that the total value of 
commitments in Annex 1, listing finalised activities under cotton specific development assistance, had increased to US$516 million and the actual di sbursements related to those activities amounted 
to US$421 million. Turning to the completed activities in Annex 2 under the framework of 
agriculture and infrastructure-related developmen t assistance, the total value of commitments and 
disbursements had increased to reach US$2.27 billion and US$2.23 billion, respectively.   
1.14  Mr. Melogno commended donors for their latest updates which showed steady progress. He 
highlighted, in particular, the improvement in the commitments to disbursements ratio in both 
active parts I and II, and encouraged the donor community to continue with that positive trend.  TN/AG/SCC/W/24 • WT/CFMC/52 
 
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  1.15  As far as the notification of National Cotton Sector Focal Points was concerned, he noted that 
their number had stayed put at 15. He urged other African cotton-producing countries to communicate the names and coordinates of their national focal points to complete the list.   
1.16  The focal point of Chad requested the de velopment community to provide technical and 
financial support to implement several projects for the development of its cotton sector. 
1.17  The focal point of Benin welcomed the narrowing of the commitments/disbursements' gap on 
the Evolving Table. He suggested a simplification  of the procedures and conditionalities for the 
awarding of resources regarding development assistance.  
1.18  The C4 Coordinator (Mali) thanked Brazil for its collaboration on its research programme 
which had helped enhance cotton production in her country. She highlighted that the statistics 
presented by the ICAC were encouraging, and would incentivize her Government to become more 
competitive and harness market forces in order to take advantage of the significant potential for 
cotton. She thanked China for the numerous workshops organized in Bamako which allowed Malian producers to boost cotton production and improve yields.  
SOUTH-SOUTH COTTON COOPERATION 
1.19  The representative of Brazil elaborated on her country's activities in Mali, where its technical 
capacity sharing had resulted in a substantial increase in cotton productivity in that country from 
1 ton/ha to 6 tons/ha. She made reference to Brazil's various activities in Benin, where direct 
planting techniques and integrated pest management practices had resulted in less pesticide's use, benefitting also other crops, and in Togo, where new cotton varieties were being developed and tested. 
1.20  The representative of China updated partic ipants on his country's capacity building and 
cooperation activities in favour of cotton producers in Africa, particularly in Benin, Chad and Mali. 
Three workshops on cotton production technology had been held in China in 2015 to which C4 and 
other African cotton producing countries were invited. He underscored that his country was also 
helping in relation to infrastructure restoration, including the construction of highways in Benin and Mali. He hoped that China's scope of cotton cooperation which aimed at enhancing cotton 
production and industrialization in Africa would be expanded to other beneficiaries in the near 
future. 
1.21  The representatives of Benin, Burkina Faso and Nigeria expressed their gratitude to Brazil, 
China and India for their active cooperation in the cotton sector. They thanked China for its 
financial support which allowed the participation of the C4 focal points at the meeting. The 
representative of Benin urged all partners to suppo rt several projects on cotton which had recently 
been circulated by the Secretariat. The projects we re designed to reinforce the productive capacity 
of Benin in the cotton sector and would help integrate its economy in regional and international 
cotton value chains. 
1.22  The Chairman underlined the importance of  South-South Cotton Cooperation by quoting 
from the recent Director-General's Seventh Periodic Report on Cotton: "South-South Cooperation 
on Cotton has become the epitome of the collaborat ive spirit that enabled to forge and consolidate 
a strong and lasting partnership amongst WTO Members and related multilateral and regional 
institutions". He encouraged other Members in a position to do so to build on that partnership and 
to consider forging a similar kind of cooperation. 
DOMESTIC COTTON SECTOR AND OTHER REFORMS / NATIONAL COTTON SECTOR FOCAL 
POINTS 
1.23  The Chairman made reference to the twelfth version of the Table on Domestic Cotton Sector 
Reforms for Enhanced Development Assistance which had been circulated on 27 October 2015 as document WT/CFMC/21/Rev.11, with new contribu tions from Benin and Mali. He noted that the 
inputs from Burkina Faso would be included in the next version of the Table.  TN/AG/SCC/W/24 • WT/CFMC/52 
 
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  1.24  He highlighted that the total number of focal points had remained as before, that is, 15. He 
encouraged other cotton-producing countries to designate and notify their National Cotton Sector Focal Points. 
1.25  The focal point of Benin recalled that the transitional measures taken by his country 
following the suspension of the Framework Agre ement with the Cotton Trade Association (AIC) 
would remain operational until the first steps for the reorganization of the cotton sector had been finalized. The zoning system of cotton basins put in place by the Government was conceived to 
better manage inputs, reduce transport costs and increase yields through win-win public-private 
partnerships. 
1.26  The focal point of Burkina Faso referred to the political developments in October 2014 and its 
adverse consequences on cotton growers which continued to have an impact on them. He said that 
a Road Map had been established to carry out an  accounting and financial audit of the National 
Union of Cotton Producers of Burkina Faso (UNPCB ) to address poor management practices. He 
underlined that the cotton organizations were reinforcing cost-cutting production measures and 
enhancing productivity by restoring soil fertility, introducing better water management practices, 
semi-direct planting and composting promotion. Efforts were also being made to diversify production by rotating cotton plantings with other crops.  
1.27  The focal point of Mali made reference to the end of the mandate of the Mission for the 
Reorganization of the Cotton Sector (MRSC), to restructure the cotton sector. As a new structure 
had been established, a task force within the "Compagnie malienne pour le développement du 
textile (CMDT)" would be preparing a programme of activities for the coming seasons, which 
included the setting up of a new ginning facility. As regards cotton production in Mali, an increase 
of 25% had been registered in the 2014/15 seas on compared to the previous one, whereas the 
slight growth forecast of 3% for 2015/16 was due mainly to the lack of rain.  
1.28  The focal point of Chad said that, in spite of a sharp decline of oil prices, her Government 
had made substantive efforts to support and reform the cotton sector because of its strategic importance, as the sector employed directly or indirectly four million people in the country.  
2  CONCLUSION 
2.1.  The Chairman concluded the meeting by re iterating the importance that Director-General 
Roberto Azevêdo attached to the cotton dossier. He underscored that the Secretariat would 
continue to monitor and report to Members on new contributions, disbursements and operational 
status of activities listed in the Evolving Table as well as progress in the implementation of 
domestic cotton sector reforms. He underscored the importance of regular and timely reporting to the Secretariat's cotton database. He stressed that South-South Cotton Cooperation was an 
important aspect of the implementation of the ma ndate on the development assistance aspects of 
cotton and that there was wide appreciation for this growing cooperation in the work of the DGCFMC. The significant contributions of Brazil, Ch ina and India in that respect were recognized 
by all WTO Members in general, and participants in the Consultative Framework, in particular. 
2.2.  The Chairman urged all participants to continue enhancing the dialogue and information 
exchange to strengthen even further the positi ve dynamics of constructive engagement in the 
development dimension of the work in the WTO. He announced that the next round of 
consultations would take place towards the middle of next year, and that it would be held back-to-
back with the next dedicated discussion to examin e relevant trade-related developments on cotton 
in the context of the Committee on Agriculture in Special Session. The Secretariat would consult 
with regard to the specific dates. 
 
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