. /. 
 
 
  
  Pascal Lamy 
  Director-General 
 
 
30 September 2009 
 
Dear Ambassadors/Permanent Representatives,  
 
 Cotton remains key in the DDA and is a test of  the Doha Development Round.  In advance of 
the Seventh WTO Ministerial Conference, I will be  circulating shortly my Third Periodic Report on 
cotton to Ministers as requested in paragraph 12 of the Hong Kong Ministerial Declaration.  
The immediate purpose of this letter is  to forward to Members the updated 7th version of the Evolving 
Table on Cotton Development Assistance  (ET), attached as document WT/CFMC/6/Rev.61. 
  This 7
th version of the Evolving Table continues to show the demonstrable progress made by 
both traditional and emerging econom y providers of development assi stance in strong partnership 
with the beneficiaries of cotton development assistan ce.  This updated version of the Table has been 
prepared on the basis of new contributions from th e African Development Bank, Brazil, Canada, the 
EC (and several of its individual Members), the FAO,  IMF, UNIDO and the World Bank.  It has also 
benefited from comments and inputs from bene ficiaries of cotton development assistance. 
  I am certain that Members share my appreciation of the contributions by Brazil, China (P.R.) 
and India on the platform of South-South C ooperation for Cotton Sector Development in my 
Consultative Framework Mechanism on Cotton ( DGCFMC).  They are having a positive, knock-on 
effect across other areas of WTO development assistance.     The Evolving Table is our bi-annual transparen cy mechanism.  It is the instrument for the 
Membership to track and monitor development assi stance provided to the cotton proponents.  It has 
emerged as a useful tool for dialogue between the development community and receivers of assistance 
to the cotton sector; although it remains work in progress.    
The current 7
th version of the Evolving Table  shows the progress and challenges: 
 
• In Part I, the number of individual benefi ciaries remained stable at 23.  The total 
number of commitments slightly increased from 149 in the 6th version to 153 
(an increase of 2.7%), in the current vers ion.  This was matched by a slight 
corresponding increase in value terms from US$548 million in the 6th version to 
US$564 million (an increase of 2.9%) in the current version.   
• There is positive news on disbursements and I thank assistance providers for 
responding to my appeal in April for expe ditious action to improve disbursement 
flow.  Actual disbursement flow increased by 58%:  from US$136 million in the 
6th version to US$215 million in the current versi on.  This is a welcome development.  
I urge continued attention to be paid to the challenge of disbursements.   
                                                 
1 The previous version of the Evolving Table is contained in document WT/CFMC/6/Rev.5. WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION  
ORGANISATION MONDIALE DU COMMERCE  
ORGANIZACIÓN MUNDIAL DEL COMERCIO  - 2 - 
 
 
• In Part II, under Agriculture and Infrastru cture-Related Development Assistance, the 
number of individual beneficiaries rema ined unchanged at 41.  The number of 
commitments increased by 5%, from 75 in the 6th version to 79 in the current version.  
The total value of these commitments remained  fairly stable, reflecting a less than 
marginal increase of 0.9%, from US$2.30 billion in the 6th version to about 
US$2.32 billion in the current version.  There is also positive development on disbursement flow, which has improved by 12%, from US$159 million in the previous 6
th version to US$178 million in the current 7th version.  Nonetheless, 
I would like to continue to draw atte ntion to the scope for improvement of 
disbursement flows.  
  Domestic cotton sector reform issues have been under discussion since the Cotonou Regional Workshop in 2004.  In keeping with the understanding at the 9
th Round of the DGCFMC, several 
cotton proponents outlined their priorities for domestic cotton sector reform.  The purpose, inter alia , 
is to identify areas for effective intervention and efficient resource use by the development 
community.  I circulated the first version of the Domestic Cotton Sector Reforms Table (DCS-RT;  WT/CFMC/21) in April, based on inputs from the cotton reforms.  No further inputs have been 
received to date.   
 I would ask that Members review, in detail, th e contents of the attached document.  I would 
also ask that Members continue to give utmost pr iority to the cotton dossier within the Doha Round 
more generally; which remains our collective litm us-test of the development dimension of the 
negotiation.    I will be convening the next - 12
th Round - of my "Consultative Framework Mechanism on 
Cotton" on 23 October 2009, and co unt on your continued engagement.