WT/MIN(15)/12  
 
10 December 2015  
(15-6532)  Page: 1/3  
Ministerial Conference 
Tenth Session 
Nairobi, 15-18 December 2015    
 
IMPLEMENTATION OF THE TRADE- RELATED COMPONENTS OF COTTON 
PROGRESS REPORT BY THE DIRECTOR-GENERAL TO THE 10TH MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE 
1.  Paragraph 11 of the Bali Ministerial Decision on Cotton (WT/MIN(13)/41 and WT/L/916), 
adopted by Members in December 2013, mandates that a progress report be submitted at each 
Ministerial Conference on the implementation of the trade-related components of cotton. 
This report, drafted in response to this mandate, is being forwarded through the General Council for Ministers consideration at the Tenth Ministerial Conference. The report covers: (1) the 
dedicated discussions of the relevant trade-related developments for cotton mandated by the Bali 
Ministerial Decision; and (2) the state of play of  the negotiations on cotton. This report is 
complementary to my periodic reports on the development assistance aspects of cotton. 
DEDICATED DICUSSIONS OF THE RELEVANT TRADE-RELATED DEVELOPMENTS FOR 
COTTON 
2.  Pursuant to the Bali Ministerial Decision on Cotton, four dedicated discussions of the relevant 
trade-related developments for cotton have taken place so far
1, in the context of the Committee 
on Agriculture in Special Session. 
3.  The dedicated discussions were held back-to-back with the Director-General's consultative 
framework mechanism on the development aspects of cotton as part of a WTO "cotton day". 
Members have welcomed the holding of these dedicated discussions as concrete steps in the 
implementation of the Bali decision on cotton. The dedicated discussions were seen as a useful 
opportunity for Members to exchange views on tr ade-related policies and relevant developments 
for cotton across the three pillars of market access , domestic support and export competition, with 
several Members updating participants on thei r cotton sector and relevant developments. 
4.  The dedicated discussions were informed by a background paper by the Secretariat2 which 
compiles factual information and data from Members' notifications and other submissions to the 
WTO on export subsidies, domestic support and mark et access, including both tariff and non-tariff 
measures. Further to Members' requests and suggestions, the Secretariat background paper was revised to also include additional information on relevant recent policy developments through 
a questionnaire, as well as relevant information on cotton markets and policies from Trade Policy 
Review reports.  
5.  Members also benefitted, starting from the second dedicated discussion, from presentations by 
the International Cotton Advisory Committee (ICAC) on global cotton market and trade trends as 
well as recent developments relating to government measures in favour of cotton. 
6.  At the 26 November 2015 dedicated discussion, the Chair reiterated the importance of this 
transparency and monitoring exercise which provides Members an opportunity to get the facts 
                                               
1 20 June 2014, 28 November 2014, 9 July 2015 and 26 November 2015. The Chair reports on the first 
three meetings can be found respectively in TN/AG/28 - TN/AG/SCC/2 dated 17 July 2014; TN/AG/29 - TN/AG/SCC/3 dated 5 February 2015 and TN/AG/31 - TN/AG/SCC/4 dated 18 September 2015. The Chair report on the dedicated discussion of 26 November 2015 will be issued shortly. 
2 TN/AG/GEN/34, TN/AG/GEN/34/Rev.1, TN/AG/ GEN/34/Rev.2, TN/AG/GEN/34/Rev.2/Add.1, 
TN/AG/GEN/34/Rev.3; TN/AG/SCC/GEN/13, TN/AG/ SCC/GEN/13/Rev.1, TN/AG/SCC/GEN/13/Rev.2, 
TN/AG/SCC/GEN/13/Rev.2/Add.1, TN/AG/SCC/GEN/13/Rev.3. WT/MIN(15)/12 
 
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  right about their cotton trade-related policies from a WTO perspective and to have a constructive 
exchange around those facts and relevant relate d developments. These dedicated discussions have 
proven to be a very useful exercise to inform th e negotiations on cotton, which are taking place in 
a separate track. The Chair noted that the conti nuation of the dedicated discussions could be part 
of an outcome at the 10th Ministerial Conference and that the decision on whether and how to 
convene the fifth dedicated discussion would be based on the outcome from Nairobi. 
NEGOTIATIONS 
7.  The Bali Ministerial Decision on Cotton states, inter alia  that: 
"2. We reaffirm the Decision adopted by the General Council on 1 August 2004, the 2005 
Hong Kong Ministerial Declaration, and ou r commitment, expressed at the 2011 Geneva 
WTO Ministerial Conference, to on-going dialogue and engagement to progress the mandate 
in paragraph 11 of the 2005 Hong Kong Ministerial Declaration to address cotton 
"ambitiously, expeditiously and specifically ", within the agriculture negotiations. 
3. We regret that we are yet to deliver on the trade-related components of the 2005 
Hong Kong Ministerial Declaration, but agree on the importance of pursuing progress in this 
area. 
4. In that regard, we consider that the Decision adopted by the General Council on 
1 August 2004 and the 2005 Hong Kong Ministerial Declaration, remain a useful basis for 
our future work. We acknowledge the work on cotton that has been done in the Committee on Agriculture in Special Session in connection with the revised draft agriculture modalities contained in document TN/AG/W/4/Rev.4 dated 6 December 2008, which provides a 
reference point for further work." 
8.  Since Bali, the negotiations on cotton have taken place both in the classical cotton quadrilateral 
"quad"
3 and quadrilateral plus "quad plus"4 formats and within the context of the Committee on 
Agriculture in special session. 
9.  At  the informal meeting of the Committee on Agri culture in special session on 2 October 2015, 
the Chair stated that "cotton would be part of any outcome achieved at the 10th Ministerial 
Conference in Nairobi" and called for Members " to engage in a much more focused negotiation on 
what could constitute a possible outcome on cotton in relation to export competition, market access and domestic support". 
10.  The Cotton-Four5 (C4) tabled on 12 October 2015, a proposal for a Ministerial decision on 
cotton.6 
11.  Following the circulation of the C4 proposal, the Chair initiated several consultations in quad 
and quad plus format and also bilaterally with the C4, the major cotton players, as well as with 
a broader group to discuss the C4 proposal and explore what could be envisaged as a possible 
outcome on cotton for the Nairobi Ministerial Conference. 
12.  The Chair circulated on 29 November, under his own responsibility, a draft text for a 
Ministerial decision on cotton which includes, in addition to a preamble, three elements – market 
access; domestic support and export competition, as well as a section on development components, and provisions on monitoring and follow up. The draft text was built on textual elements circulated earlier by the Chair based on the C4 proposal, feedback heard during his 
consultations, and written textual proposals from Members. It was discussed and amended 
through an incremental iterative process involv ing both the "quad plus" format and a broader 
group of Members. As a result of this process,  the Chair circulated on 9 December a revised 
version of a draft text for a Ministerial decision on cotton7 to be discussed by Ministers at the 10th 
Ministerial Conference in Nairobi, in advance of the informal meeting of the Committee on 
Agriculture in special session scheduled on 11 December.  
                                               
3 C4 (Benin, Burkina Faso, Chad and Mali), Brazi l, the European Union and the United States. 
4 Quad participants plus Ar gentina, Australia, China, Colombia, India and Pakistan. 
5 Benin, Burkina Faso, Chad and Mali. 
6 TN/AG/GEN/38 - TN/AG/SCC/GEN/14. 
7 JOB/AG/64. WT/MIN(15)/12 
 
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  13.  That draft text reflects the latest round of Members' comments and while it leaves some 
options open on the most controversial issues and is not yet a final text, it is hoped that it will be a good basis for an outcome on cotton at Nairobi. 
CONCLUSION 
1 4 .  T he  vital  im p ortanc e  of c otton, in  p artic ular  to L DCs  as  we l l as  to a num b e r of d e ve lop ing  
economies, especially in Africa, continues to be recognized by all Members. As a result, the cotton 
dossier remains at the core of our work. The dedicated discussions in relation to the trade-related 
aspects of cotton are enhancing transparency and mo nitoring of the trade-related developments in 
this sector. We must however recognize the lack of progress on substance since the start of WTO negotiations on cotton, and I hope that the 10
th Ministerial Conference will deliver a 
meaningful outcome on the cotton dossier. 
 
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