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Roberto Azevêdo 
  Director-General 
 
  
 26 May 2014 
 
  
 
Dear Ambassadors/Permanent Representatives,  
 I am pleased to forward with this letter the 17th version of the Evolving Table on Cotton 
Development Assistance (WT/CFMC/6/Rev.16) for review by Members in advance of the next Round of the Director-General's Consultative  Framework Mechanism on Cotton (DGCFMC).   
  
 The attached version of the Evolving Table (E T) was made possible by contributions from 
Brazil, Canada, the European Union (and some of its Member States), Japan and the United States, as well as from several multilateral institutions, namely, the CFC, the FAO, the IMF, 
the ITC and the World Bank. It is important to note the continuous support and significant 
contributions from Brazil, China and India on  the platform of South-South Co-operation. 
 
Notifications of activities in the Evolving Tabl e (ET) have increased, demonstrating, on the 
one hand, the engagement of the donor community and, on the other hand, the relevance of the ET as our widely recognized tool for tracking development assistance to the cotton sector. New projects have been initiated and many others have been completed. However, the increase in 
reporting and the resulting dynamics of the Table show a mixed picture: there has been a slight 
increase in the gap between commitments and disb ursements in Part I, which relates to "Cotton 
Specific Development Assistance", and a reduction of that gap in Part II, which lists "Agriculture 
and Infrastructure-Related Development Assistance".  
 The updated commitments and disbursements of active operational activities in this version 
of the Table are the following:   
 
 In Part I, on Cotton Specific Development Assistance , the number of individual 
beneficiaries decreased to 28 from 32 in the previous version, whereas the total 
number of commitments declined to 37 from 46. The total value of commitments 
decreased by US$27.6 million, mainly due to an administrative transfer of completed 
projects to the relevant Annex, and now stands at US$335.6 million.  Disbursement 
flows diminished by US$26 million to reach US$92.5 million. The ratio of total 
disbursements to total commitments decreased to 28%, compared to 33% earlier.  
 
 In Part II, on Agriculture and Infrastructure-Related Development Assistance , 
the number of individual beneficiaries remained  stable at 27, while the total number of 
commitments increased to 55 from 46 prev iously. While the total value of these 
commitments decreased to US$4.78 billion, the disbursement flows increased 
significantly by US$430 million to reac h US$2.62 billion. The ratio of total 
disbursements to total commitments jumped to 55%, from 45% in the previous version.   
 
. /. WTO   OMC  
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I am also pleased to attach the 9th version of the Table on Domestic Cotton Sector Reforms 
(WT/CFMC/21/Rev.8), reflecting new contribution s from Burkina Faso and Mali, as well as the 
continuation of efforts undertaken by Benin and Chad. These regular updates show that 
beneficiaries are making steady progress on the reforms of their cotton sector that go hand-in-hand with development assistance. 
 
As you know, Ministers agreed in Bali in December 2013 to hold a dedicated discussion on 
the trade-related aspects of cotton on a bi-annual basis in the context of the Committee on Agriculture in Special Session. Together with the Chairman of this Committee, we considered 
pertinent to hold the first such dedica ted discussion back-to-back with the 21
st Round of the 
DGCFMC on 20 June 2014. We will therefore have a full, and I am sure productive, day dedicated 
to the cotton issue. 
 
The updated 17th version of the Evolving Table as well as the 9th version of the Domestic 
Cotton Sector Reform Table will form the basis for the 21st Round of Consultations of the 
Consultative Framework Mechanism on Cotton.   
 
        
Yours sincerely, 
 
 
 
 
Roberto Azevêdo