TN/AG/SCC/W/20  
WT/CFMC/47  
 
14 January 2014  
(14-0182)  Page: 1/6  
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 20th Round of the Director-General's  
Consultative Framework Mechanism on Cotton1 
30 October 2013 
 
 
 1  INTRODUCTION 
1.1.  Pursuant to paragraph 12 of the Hong Kong Ministerial Declaration, this is the Sixteenth 
Secretariat Progress Report to the Sub-Committ ee on Cotton on the Development Assistance 
Aspects of Cotton. Since the last Progress Report, there have been several developments. First, on 
26 September 2013, the Director-General circulated the 16
th version (WT/CFMC/6/Rev.15) of the 
Evolving Table on Cotton Development Assistance and the 8th version (WT/CFMC/21/Rev.7) of the 
Table on Domestic Cotton Sector Reforms, under cover of his letter addressed to Ambassadors and Permanent Representatives. Second, the DG su bmitted his Sixth Periodic Report on the 
Development Assistance Aspects of Cotton to the membership on 22 October 2013 
(WT/CFMC/DG/6). Third, the 20
th Round of the Director-General's Consultative Framework 
Mechanism on Cotton (DGCFMC) took place on 30 October 2013. Finally, WTO Members have 
maintained an active interest on all aspects of the cotton dossier, as mandated in the 
1 August 2004 General Council Decision and in the 2005 Hong Kong Ministerial Declaration.       
2  TWENTIETH ROUND OF THE DIRECTOR -GENERAL'S CONSULTATIVE FRAMEWORK 
MECHANISM ON COTTON  
2.1.  The Chairman (DDG David Shark) welcomed all participants to the 20th Round of the 
DGCFMC, in particular the C4 participants, as well as Ambassador John Adank, Chairman of the 
Committee on Agriculture in Special Session (CoA SS) and of its Sub-Committee on Cotton (SCC). 
He paid tribute to his predecessor, Mr. H.V. Singh, for his pivotal role in helping to forge a solid 
partnership between the development community and the recipients of assistance. 
STATEMENT BY THE C4 REPRESENTATIVE 
 
2.2.  Ambassador Bamanga Abbas, from Chad, spea king on behalf of the C4 countries and other 
cotton-producing countries from Africa, LDCs and ACP, recalled Ministers' instructions at the 
Ministerial Conference in 2011 (MC8) on the need for dialogue and engagement on cotton, which 
could allow for an early harvest in the Ministerial Co nference in Bali (MC9). He said that there were 
two timelines to address the cotton issue: first, the period leading to MC9, and second, the post-
Bali period. He made reference to the recent interim proposal on cotton tabled by the C4 in document TN/AG/GEN/33 – TN/AG/SCC/GEN/12, as part of the LDC package for MC9, consisting of 
three components, namely:  trade, development and follow-up aspects. He underscored that the 
                                               
1 This document has been prepared under the Secret ariat's own responsibility and without prejudice to 
the positions of Members and to their rights and obligations under the WTO. TN/AG/SCC/W/20 • WT/CFMC/47 
 
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  C4 was committed to constructive engagement on the issue and highlighted that a tangible result 
at MC9 would act as a catalyser for the post-Bali agenda. He stressed that, even if cotton production in the C4 countries had increased in the 2012-13 season and the prospects for the next season were for further growth, both appropriat e development assistance and the elimination of 
trade distortions were needed for meanin gful poverty-reduction in rural areas. 
2.3.  The representative of India shared the C4's concerns regarding the adverse consequences of 
trade-distorting domestic support measures and export subsidies for cotton on the economies of 
developing countries, particularly the LDCs.  She stressed that she supported the proposal put 
forward by the C4 and urged Members to engage constructively with a view to achieving a positive outcome on the cotton issue in Bali, in accordance with the 2005 Hong Kong Ministerial Declaration. 
2.4.  The representative of Uganda associated himself with the statement made by the C4 and 
emphasized that there were seven countries in East Africa that were also dependent on cotton. 
2.5.  The representative of Mozambique supporte d the C4 statement and hoped to see the cotton 
issue being addressed as per the Hong Kong mandate. 
TRADE POLICY ASPECTS OF COTTON 2.6.  The Chairman of the CoA SS and of its Sub-Committee on Cotton, Ambassador John Adank of 
New Zealand, provided an overview of the state-of-play in the agriculture negotiations, making 
reference to the proposals tabled by the G- 20 and the G-33. He said that even though 
convergence had been emerging on a range of elements, some divergences still remained on certain important issues. He stressed that Members would have to accelerate their efforts to 
identify possible solutions for some unresolved issues in the preparations for the Bali Ministerial. 
2.7.  Referring specifically to cotton, while Ambassador Adank welcomed the proposal submitted 
by the C4 (TN/AG/GEN/33 and Corr.1; TN/AG/SCC/ GEN/12 and Corr.1), he signalled that it had 
arrived quite late in the negotiating process and time was running short. He underlined that he 
would be organizing efforts towards finding possible textual agreement on cotton in advance of MC9.   
2.8.  Ambassador Adank concluded by paying tribute to the outgoing ICAC Executive Director, 
Mr. Terry Townsend. He highlighted that the comprehensive data, excellent background information and pertinent analysis provided by ICAC in the past years had largely contributed to a better understanding by participants in the DGCFMC of the situation in the cotton sector 
worldwide. 
2.9.  The representative of Pakistan underscored the importance of removing all production and 
trade-distorting support to the cotton sector which negatively affected developing countries and, in 
particular, LDCs. 
2.10.  The representative of Australia expressed her appreciation for the tireless efforts 
undertaken by the Chair of the CoA SS on the Bali  package. She said that the C4 proposal on 
cotton highlighted the need for Members to redouble efforts in the on-going discussions on trade-
distorting forms of support. 
2.11.  The representative of the United States we lcomed the cooperative effort of the Chair of the 
CoA SS, Ambassador Adank and Mr. Steffen Smidt, the Facilitator on LDC matters, in addressing 
important issues related to cotton, and stressed that Members should be looking at what was 
doable in Bali, taking into account the time constraints before MC9. 
2.12.  The representative of the European Unio n said that the European Union was willing to 
engage with the C4 and all actors in any format to make progress on the cotton issue in the short 
time remaining before the Bali Ministerial. 
2.13.  The representative of Uganda mentioned that negotiators should try to tie loose ends 
amongst the different proposals presented by the G-20, G-33 and C4 in order to get a tangible 
solution to the cotton issue. TN/AG/SCC/W/20 • WT/CFMC/47 
 
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COTTON PRODUCTION AND TRADE TRENDS 2.14.  The Executive Director of the International Cotton Advisory Committee (ICAC), 
Mr. Terry Townsend, provided an overview of the size and location of the cotton industry across 
the world as well as an analysis of the linkages between global cotton value chains and 
employment worldwide. He noted that 250 million people, approximately 3% of the world population, were involved in cotton growing and textiles and clothing production globally. He 
pointed out that there were 43 million cotton farms in the world, of which 90% were located in 
Asia. He made a detailed presentation on world employment in the different segments of the 
cotton value chains, from farm production to warehousing, trading, ginning, spinning, weaving, cutting and sewing. 
2.15.  He referred to ICAC's forecast for the next 10 years which showed that important shifts 
would occur in the world's cotton production, trade and mill use. He mentioned, for instance, that 
cotton production in African countries was expected to triple in 2022/23 to reach 9% of the world 
total, whereas production in China was forecasted  to decrease by approximately half to 15% and 
that in South America to more than double to reach 16% of world production. As far as mill use was concerned, he underscored that a similar trend on location's shifts would take place globally 
within the next 10 years, bringing about interest ing opportunities. He explained that although 
more than half of mill use would still remain in the Asian region, there would be significant changes in other parts of the world, particularly in those countries which were closer to major retail markets. 
2.16.   He highlighted that while cotton prices had stabilized and were well above average, mainly 
due to record global stocks, the situation was no t sustainable and cotton prices would inevitably 
drop in the future. He noted the downward impact on cotton prices that any future release of those 
stocks on the markets would have. 
2.17.  The representative of Australia commended the informative presentation by ICAC and also 
referred to its latest report showing trends in different trade-distorting forms of support, which she 
considered was a very useful contribution to the discussions on the cotton dossier. 
2.18.  The representative of the United States congratulated Mr. Townsend for his presentation 
which showed very interesting data on employment generated in the cotton value chains, the 
historical context and the dynamics of the industry. He praised the forecast on possible shifts that 
may occur in the future on account of several competitive factors. He stressed that the data was 
useful in helping the establishment of a holistic view of the cotton sector which was being considered in the DGCFMC.  
2.19.  The representative of Pakistan thanked the ICAC's representative for his very good 
presentation and asked if he could provide in  the next meeting up-to-date information on 
technology concentration in the cotton sector. She mentioned that from the development 
perspective it would be important to ensure that state-of-the-art technological processes for cotton 
production were disseminated to the rest of the world.  
DIRECTOR-GENERAL'S EVOLVING TABLE ON COTTON DEVELOPMENT ASSISTANCE 2.20.  The Chairman, in introducing item 5 of th e agenda, made reference to the sixteenth version 
of the Evolving Table (ET), circulated to Members by the Director-General on 26 September 2013 
and contained in document WT/CFMC/6/Rev.15. He invited Ms Annet Blank, Head of the LDC Unit 
in the Development Division, to highlight the key points of the latest revision of the ET. 
2.21.  Ms Annet Blank noted that the latest version of the Evolving Table had been prepared on 
the basis of inputs from Brazil, the European Union and some of its member States, Japan, 
Switzerland and the United States. Inputs had also been received from several multilateral 
organizations, namely: the CFC, FA O, IMF, ITC and the World Bank.  
2.22.  She pointed out that in Part I of the ET, reflecting the ongoing activities of cotton specific 
development assistance, the total value of commitm ents had slightly decreased to US$363 million, TN/AG/SCC/W/20 • WT/CFMC/47 
 
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  whereas the total value of disbursements stood at US$118 million. She highlighted that the ratio of 
total disbursements to total commitments had slipped from 36% to 33%. As regards Part II, which sets out information on ongoing activities in the broader framework of agriculture and infrastructure development assistance related to cotton, the value of commitments had decreased 
markedly from US$5.43 billion in the previous version to US$4.86 billion in the revised version. 
The total value of disbursements had significantly increased to attain US$2.19 billion while the ratio of total disbursements/total commitment s had jumped to 45% from 29% previously. 
2.23.  As regards information on completed acti vities, she reported that the total value of 
commitments in Annex 1, listing activities under cotton specific development assistance, had increased to US$361 million and the actual disbursements related to those activities amounted to US$340 million.  Turning to the completed activiti es in Annex 2 under the broader framework of 
agriculture and infrastructure development assi stance related to cotton, the total value of 
commitments and disbursements had almost doubled to reach US$1.54 billion and US$1.51 billion, respectively.    
2.24.  She highlighted that the discussions on the qualitative dimension were having a positive 
effect on the ET, not only because the gap between commitments and disbursements had diminished, particularly in Part II, but because there were also fewer cells in blank in the Table, 
showing that reporting had improved. She said th at donors should enhance their reporting yet 
further in order to close the gap more meaningfully.  
2.25.  With respect to the notification of National Cotton Sector Focal Points, she stated that their 
number had stayed put at 10 and therefore more  submissions were needed. She urged cotton 
proponents to communicate the names and coordinates of their national focal points to improve 
the dialogue and information flow with assistance providers.   
2.26.  The representative of Canada made reference to its late submission which was not reflected 
in the latest version of the Evolving Table. He announced, in particular, two new projects in Part II 
of the Evolving Table in favour of Benin and Burkina Faso for CAD$ 12 million and CAD$ 10 million, respectively. He asked the Secretariat to reflect the figures in US dollars in the ET 
using a recent base year for the conversion rate, as the Canadian dollar was almost at par vis-à-
vis the US dollar. 
2.27.  The representative of the United States said it would be useful to analyse the correlation 
between the Evolving Table and the Table on Dome stic Cotton Sector Reforms. He underlined that 
it would be important to determine how effective the projects in the framework of agriculture and 
infrastructure assistance related to cotton were in terms of cotton production, exports and employment. He considered it essential to get concrete information on aspects such as land reform 
and land ownership or risk management policies, and on the number of countries where those 
aspects were being addressed and implemented. 
2.28.  The representative of Pakistan associated  herself with the statement made by the United 
States and highlighted the importance of implementing insurance and risk management 
programmes, particularly for LDCs, in view of climate change induced negative consequences, such as the severe flooding that her country had experienced. 
2.29.  The Chairman took note of the interest of participants on the qualitative aspects of cotton 
assistance and announced that he would be holding informal consultations to fully understand the 
scope of a possible assessment of the role of agri culture and infrastructure-related assistance on 
the cotton sector. He highlighted that he would be  seeking Members' views on the desirability and 
modes of organizing a dedicated half-day exchan ge of practical experience of some specific 
projects on the ground, while considering at the same time possible solutions to address related constraints. Furthermore, he said that he woul d be looking into the technical issue raised by 
Canada concerning the conversion rate for inputs to the Evolving Table. 
2.30.  He ended the discussions under item 5 by und erlining that there were still challenges to be 
addressed collectively, including the necessity to bridge the commitment/disbursement gap more meaningfully and for all cotton proponents to identify their focal points.   TN/AG/SCC/W/20 • WT/CFMC/47 
 
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  SOUTH-SOUTH COTTON COOPERATION 
2.31.   The representative of India reaffirmed that her country was deeply committed to South-
South Cooperation in the cotton sector.  She updated participants on India's Technical Assistance 
Programme for Cotton benefitting the C4 and othe r African cotton-producing countries, stressing 
that steady progress had been made towards identifying nodal coordinators and that a bilingual 
website had been created. She mentioned that leading Indian institutions in the area of cotton were actively engaged in the programme, whereby five training workshops had been completed 
and other skills and technology capacity buil ding activities were under implementation. 
2.32.  The representative of Brazil underscored that his country had nearly completed the first 
phase of its project in favour of the C4 countries and it had already started the second phase of its 
South-South Cooperation activities. He signalled that two other projects had been introduced in 
the Evolving Table, showing that new resources had been allocated and a food security element 
added in relation to cotton crop rotation. He mentioned that the larger new project for Africa had been expanded geographically, to also include Togo as a beneficiary country. 
2.33.   The representative of China gave details  on the implementation of China's cooperation 
programme with the C4 countries. He noted that his country's programme for Benin on cotton 
seeds cultivation and technical training, valued at US$ 3.7 million, was under way. Similarly, its 
programme to provide fertilizers, pesticides and cotton processing equipment to Mali for a total of 
US$ 1.6 million was making some progress, albeit not at a very rapid pace due to the difficult political situation in the country. He made reference to its project for an equal amount in favour of Chad to provide small farm machines, agriculture inputs and training on cotton production and 
land management, which was likewise being impl emented. He underscored that the DGCFMC had 
proved to be a useful mechanism to help the C4  and other cotton-producing developing countries. 
He stressed that China would be continuing in the future its efforts in cotton development 
assistance within the framework of South-South Cooperation. 
2.34.  The representative of Mali thanked thos e partners that had been providing South-South 
support for the C4 countries, in particular Brazil and China. 
2.35.  The representative of the ITC intervened to highlight some of ITC's activities in facilitating 
South-South cooperation amongst various countries along the cotton value chain, including 
training programmes, dissemination of transformation technology and investment promotion. 
2.36.  The representative of the United States poin ted out that, in the spirit of transparency and to 
have a full picture of assistance provided, it would be useful if all types of activities under South-
South cooperation were also included in detail in the Evolving Table. 
2.37.  The Chairman underlined that South-South Cotton Cooperation constituted a welcome 
element of development cooperation in the mult ilateral trading system. He encouraged other 
Members in a position to do so to deepen  and extend that kind of cooperation. 
DOMESTIC COTTON SECTOR AND OTHER REFORMS / NATIONAL COTTON SECTOR FOCAL 
POINTS 
2.38.  The Chairman made reference to the eighth version of the Table on Domestic Cotton Sector 
Reforms for Enhanced Development Assistance which had been circulated on 26 September 2013 
as document WT/CFMC/21/Rev.7, with new inputs from Burkina Faso and the continuation of the 
prevailing initiatives in Benin, Chad and Mali.  
2.39.  He highlighted that the Secretariat had not received any additional information on focal 
points and that the total number remained at 10.  He urged proponent countries to designate other 
National Cotton Sector Focal Points in order to make the list more meaningful and foster dialogue 
and exchange of information amongst the development community, Geneva negotiators and actors in the field. TN/AG/SCC/W/20 • WT/CFMC/47 
 
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  3  CONCLUSION 
3.1.  The Chairman concluded the meeting by sa ying that the discussions had been useful and 
underlined the emphasis that Director-General Roberto Azevêdo placed on the cotton dossier. He 
stressed that the Secretariat would keep assisting the process in the Director-General's 
Consultative Framework Mechanism and would continue to monitor and report to Members on new 
updates regarding activities in the Evolving Table. Of equal importance, progress would continue to be monitored regarding the implementation of do mestic cotton sector reforms. The Consultative 
Framework would pursue and amplify the dynamics started in its review of the qualitative 
dimension of activities listed in the ET. He emphasized that South-South Cotton Cooperation had emerged as an important aspect of the implem entation of the mandate on the development 
assistance aspects of cotton and that there was wide recognition of that important dimension of 
the work in the DGCFMC. The significant contributions of Brazil, China and India as well as 
Pakistan were acknowledged with appreciation by al l participants. He referred to the Sixth Periodic 
Report by the Director-General on Cotton Development Assistance, which was issued on 
22 October 2013 with the triple symbol WT/GC/154 – WT/CFMC/DG/6 – WT/MIN(13)/3 for the 
forthcoming Ninth Ministerial Conference in Bali. He pointed out that cotton was an integral part of the package that the LDC Group would submit for MC9.    
3.2.  He highlighted that as his predecessor Pascal Lamy, the Director-General would continue to 
place a full spotlight on the cotton issue, continui ng the trend of a collaborative process, where all 
parties had engaged in partnership, enhancing the dialogue, improving the information flows, 
monitoring the numerical values of assistance allocated to the cotton sector and making the 
process a positive example of constructive engagement in the development dimension of the work 
in the WTO. He suggested that the next round of  consultations take place in the middle of next 
year and said that the Secretariat would consult with regard to the specific dates. 
 
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