WT/CFMC/44  
 
3 July 2013  
(13-3479)  Page: 1/5  
  Original: English  
 
 DIRECTOR-GENERAL'S CONSULTATIVE FRAMEWORK 
MECHANISM ON COTTON 
COMMUNICATION FROM BRAZIL 
 The following communication, dated 21 June 2013,  is being circulated at the request of the 
delegation of Brazil.  
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  1  UPDATE ON SOUTH-SOUTH CO-OPERATION ON COTTON 
1.1  The C-4 Project and the Cotton Industry 
Situation Projects and Ad-hoc 
Activities ABC (US$) Total (US$) 
Project 
Concluded BRA 04/043 – S110 2,994,310.52* 5,219,451.00 
Project in 
Implementation BRA 12/002 – S002 1,116,040.48** 1,116,040.48 
Ad-hoc Activity in 
Implementation BRA 12/002 – A001 108,916.00 108,916.00 
Subtotal: Cotton-4 Projects and Ad-hoc 
Activities 4,219,267.00 6,444,407.48 
Project in 
Implementation BRA 12/002 – S001 
Support to General 
Coordination of Cotton Projects
 1,721,016.00 1,721,016.00 
TOTAL 5,940,283.00 8,165,423.48 
 
* Part of the C-4 Project implemented with the Brazilian Co-operation Agency (ABC) funds. ** Part of the C-4 Project implemented after the agreem ent with the Brazilian Cotton Fund (IBA).The Brazilian 
Cooperation Agency, the Brazilian Co tton Institute and the United Nations’ Development Program signed 
Project BRA 12/002 in April 2012 with the objective of developing the cotton industry in African countries. 
Funds from Subproject S110, originally allocated to Project BRA 04/043, were transferred to Project BRA 
12/002 in July 2012. 
 
 
1.1.  The strategy of the Brazilian technical coop eration, provided in the context of South-South 
cooperation, focuses on strengthening our partners’ institutions, as we understand this is a 
fundamental requirement for effective knowledge tran sfer and ownership. Not driven by profit and 
free of commercial interest, the Brazilian technical cooperation aims to share successful experiences and best practices in the areas acco rding to our partners’ demands. The Brazilian 
Cooperation Agency (ABC) believes that sharing experiences and knowledge materializes solidarity 
and responsibility among peoples, resulting in be nefit to all partners involved. Experience has 
shown us that technical cooperation projects are excellent tools to promote social development and represent the efforts of many professionals who believe that with hard work and political will it 
is possible to generate great social and economic value.  WT/CFMC/44 
 
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  1.2.  Brazil’s technical cooperation relations fo cus on Latin America and the Caribbean and Africa, 
mainly in the fields of agriculture (including pr oduction and food security ), vocational training, 
education, justice, sports, health, the environm ent, information technology, urban development, 
biofuels, air transportation and tourism.  
1.3.  Technical cooperation with Africa gained momentum when the Brazilian Government, as a 
pillar of its foreign policy, stressed the high priori ty on the continent, with a significant number of 
important bilateral and multilateral agreements signed with regional organizations and many different African countries. In 2012, for example, more than 40 countries were contemplated with 
South-South cooperation activities. More specifically, Brazil has been cooperating with Mali since 
2009 and has been one of the few countries that has kept cooperation activities unchanged with that nation in the last few years.  
1.4.  A successful example of the Brazilian South- South Cooperation with Africa is the regional 
structuring program Support to the Development of the Cotton Industry in the C-4 Countries 
(Benin, Burkina Faso, Chad and Mali) , known as the Cotton-4 Project, which aims to promote 
significant change in technological paradigms pert inent to the cotton sector, an industry of great 
social and economic impact to the internal market of the participating countries.  
1.5.  The project dates back to 2003 with the Cotto n Initiative at the World Trade Organization, in 
which the Cotton-4 countries (Benin, Burkina Faso, Chad and Mali) participated very actively. As 
we know, these four countries contribute with approximately 5% of the world’s production of 
cotton – a crop that, in some cases, accounts for more than 50% of their trade balance.  
1.6.  Cooperation with Brazil was one of the topics of discussion then, and negotiations have 
evolved to the first technical mission to the C- 4 countries in March 2006, headed by the then 
Director of the Economic Department of the Braz ilian Ministry of External Relations, Minister 
Roberto Azevedo. At the same time, authorities of the C-4 countries visited Brazil, advancing negotiations and generating praise in the meetings of the Consultative Framework Mechanism on 
Cotton held in 2007. The format and the legal framework to be applied to the cooperation activities 
were jointly negotiated in 2008. Due to the project’s regional scope, the Brazilian Government and the African Union signed the respective complementary agreements and other related instruments 
in order to provide the adequate legal framework.  
1.7.  The project Support to the Development of the Cotton Industry in the C-4 Countries (Benin, 
Burkina Faso, Chad and Mali) was signed in Bamako, Mali, in February 2009, and activities started in the same year with the revitalization of the Sotuba station and preparations for the first 
planting. Togo manifested the inte rest to join the project still in  2009, but because the activities 
had already been designed considering the C-4 countries specific demnads, Togo’s participation had to wait for a later opportunity. In November  2009, former Brazilian chancellor Celso Amorim, 
the Malian President and the Malian Minister of Agri culture visited the project to participate in the 
first harvest and lay the cornerstone for the construction of the project’s facilities. 
1.8.  Given its scope, structure and size, the C-4 Project is one of ABC’s most important initiatives 
in Africa. The project aims to strengthen the cotton supply chain in the four participating countries 
by introducing Brazilian cotton varieties developed by world-renowned Embrapa (Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation) and making breeding and research techniques available to local technicians and experts. To achieve that goal, the Malian Government appointed the Sotuba 
Experimental Station to be refurbished and equipped with the laboratories, equipment and 
material necessary to the training courses to be provided by Embrapa. A demonstration unit was also put in place in Sotuba to test the adaptation of the Brazilian cotton varieties to local soil and 
climate conditions. A permanent representative of Embrapa was assigned to oversee the 
experiments and the maintenance of the facilities.  
1.9.  Meanwhile, the other participating countries were not neglected: each received a 
demonstration unit in which 10 Brazilian cotton varieties were planted in small plots of land. 
Training courses were also held in both Brazil and Mali to build the capacity of more than 400 technicians from all four countries in three sustainable farming techniques: no-till planting, integrated pest management and cotton breeding.  WT/CFMC/44 
 
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  1.10.  Among the results achieved by the project are the following: 
 Revitalization of the Sotuba Experimental Station to function as a permanent regional 
training center not only for the four participating countries, but also for others that may 
join the initiative. The Sotuba Station will encourage research and the dissemination of 
validated and certified techniques to the benefit of the rural population. 
 Dissemination of scientific production as a strategic factor to promote socioeconomic 
growth in small communities, favoring social inclusion through small-scale farming. 
 Strengthening the entire cotton supply ch ain by improving yield and quality and 
promoting the access of small-scale farmers to results from research, aimed at 
establishing a sustainable agriculture. 
 Manual of best practices in farming and technical support documents issued to 
technicians with the objective of boosting the production of cotton in the C-4 countries. 
1.11.  In quantitative terms, the project has achieved the following: 
 Eight training courses in no-till planting offered to 166 technicians in both Brazil and 
Africa. 
 Eight training courses in integrated planting management offered to 197 technicians in 
both Brazil and Africa. 
 Five courses on cotton breeding offered to 62 technicians in both Brazil and Africa. 
 Five technical documents on agricultural management applied to cotton.  
 One manual of best farming practices applicable to cotton in the C-4 countries. 
1.12.  The project successfully completed the refu rbishment of the Sotuba Station in the first 
semester of 2013. The inauguration ceremony will take place during a high-level meeting with 
representatives of the participating countries, who will discuss the results achieved by the project 
and the future of the initiative. The meeting will  take place in the second semester of 2013, on 
dates yet to be defined by the parties. 
1.2  The Brazilian Cotton Fund – IBA 
1.13.  As a result of the negotiations pertaining to the Brazil-United States cotton dispute, the 
governments of the two countries signed a Memorandum of Understanding in April 2010 
establishing a fund to promote technical assistance and institutional capacity building consisting of 
USD 147 million a year to the benefit of the affected countries and producers.  
1.14.  In that context, the Brazilian Cotton Institute ( Instituto Brasileiro do Algodão – IBA) was 
established in June 2010. The institute operates under the Brazilian law and has financial and 
administrative autonomy to manage and use the cotton fund to implement the activities under the 
MoU. The funds are to be used in specific activities (except research) in the Brazilian cotton industry.  According to the text of the agreement, the MoU authorizes international cooperation 
initiatives in countries in sub-Saharan Africa, the MERCOSUR, Haiti or any other developing 
country as agreed by the parties.  
1.15.  Among others, the following technical assistance and training activities can be implemented 
under the Memorandum of Understanding:  
a. Control, mitigation and eradication of pest and disease. 
b. Application of post-harvest technology. 
c. Promotion of cotton use. WT/CFMC/44 
 
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  d. Adoption of cultivars. 
e. Training to workers and employers. 
f. Natural resource management and conservation. 
g. Application of methods to improve cotton grading and classification. 
h. Extension services related to cotton. 
1.16.  The Brazilian Ministry of External Relati ons (MRE) and the Brazilian Cotton Institute (IBA) 
signed a Protocol of Intentions in October 2011 to implement international cooperation activities, allocating for that purpose 10% of the received  funds, which amounted to approximately USD 35 
million in December 2012. The Brazilian Cooperation Agency (ABC) is in charge of using the funds 
to implement cooperation, which consists of sharing knowledge, skills, best practices and 
competencies developed by specialized Brazilian institutions.  
1.3  Present and Future Initiatives 
1.17.  In addition to the nearly concluded Cotton-4 project, negotiations are under way to 
implement three new initiatives in Africa. 
1.3.1  Cotton-4 – Phase 2 
1.18.  The countries participating in the 5
th C-4 Project Steering Committee Meeting held in 
May 2012 showed their interest in carrying on with the Project to disseminate the achieved results. Considering this, ABC and Embrapa have prepared a document to guide the negotiations that will 
take place during the next meeting of the Steering Committee, to be held in the second semester 
of this year. 
1.19.  The second phase of the project intends to contemplate food security issues, as most 
African producers are small-scale farmers. In that sense, the project will not only aim to boost 
cotton yields and quality, but also the production  of food by rotating crops. Additionally, the 
following items are possible focus areas for the pr oject’s second phase, according to the demands 
of the participating countries: 
 Dissemination of the Manual of Best Agricultural Practices to local small-scale farmers, 
including the necessary training to both rural extension workers (multipliers) and farmers. 
 Official transfer to the four participating countries of the four Brazilian cultivars best 
adapted to the African needs, so that the breeding process may continue. 
 Continuation of the joint actions to develop no-till planting, cultivar tests and pest 
management. 
 Building and equipping laboratories to assist in strengthening local institutions. 
 Including biodiversity conservation and environmental sustainability components, as the 
results achieved by the first phase are disseminated and applied in a large scale. 
 Training African experts and technicians. 
1.20.  The base document will be translated and forwarded to the participating institutions before 
the next meeting of the Steering Committee so the participants can analyze it and provide their 
comments and suggestions during the meeting. 
1.21.  Given their confirmed interest in joining the Project’s activities, Togo is expected to join the 
training courses.  WT/CFMC/44 
 
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  1.3.2  Strengthening the Demonstration Units in the C-4 Countries 
1.22.  In June and August 2012, the Project Coordi nator traveled to the other three participating 
countries to monitor the activities in implementation in each demonstration unit. Experiments with 
the Brazilian cotton varieties were carried out in all facilities and technology showcases were consolidated at the stations of Okpara (Benin), Farako-bá (Burkina Faso) and Bébédjia (Chad). The 
objective was to carry on with the project’s adaptation and training activities during their 
temporary suspension in Mali, since the political turmoil in the country forced UNDP to close its local office.  
1.3.3  Other Cotton Projects 
1.23.  The Brazilian Government intends to implem ent two other projects of regional scope: one in 
Southern Africa (Mozambique and Malawi) and the other one in East Africa (Tanzania, Kenya, 
Burundi and Uganda). The countries were grouped considering their natural conditions and 
available logistics.  
1.24.  A fact-finding mission visited Mozambique and Malawi in April 2013; and the project draft is 
being prepared and will soon be forwarded to the Parties for analysis. A fact-finding mission to the 
countries of the second group is to take place at the beginning of the second semester of 2013. 
  
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