WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  WT/L/697 
11 September 2007 
 
 (07-3785) 
 Original:   French 
  
 
DIRECTOR-GENERAL'S CONSULTATIVE FRAMEWORK MECHANISM: 
COTTON DEVELOPMENT ASSISTANCE 
 
Communication from the Delegation of Burkina Faso
 
 
 
 The following communication, dated 6 September 2007, is being circulated to Members and Observers for information, at the request of the delegation of Burkina Faso. WT/L/697 
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  OUAGADOUGOU DECLARATION ON THE SECTORAL INITIATIVE
 
IN FAVOUR OF COTTON  
 
  We, the Ministers of Trade of the co-sponsors of the Sectoral  Initiative in Favour of Cotton, 
meeting for consultations in Ouagadoug ou (Burkina Faso) on 6 September 2007; 
  Stressing  the vital importance of cotton to the ec onomies and populations of several African 
cotton-producing countries;  
 Stressing  the serious impact of the export subsid ies and domestic support granted by certain 
developed country Members of the World Trade Organization on the economies and populations of 
the African cotton-producing countries, particularly the least developed countries (LDCs) among them;  
 Stressing also  the major risk that the cotton industry in our countries could soon disappear 
and that the socioeconomic difficulties faced by the rural cotton-producing communities could grow more acute, aggravating the poverty and destituti on in our countries, which are among the poorest in 
the world;   Recalling  the important decisions that the Members of the World Trade Organization (WTO) 
adopted in July 2004 in Geneva and reaffirmed at  the Sixth WTO Ministerial Conference held in 
Hong Kong from 13 to 18 December 2005, ca lling for the cotton i ssue to be addressed "ambitiously, 
expeditiously and specifically" ; 
  Recalling  the conclusions and observations formulated at the close of the High-Level Session 
of the WTO Director-General's Consultative Fram ework Mechanism on Cotton, held in Geneva on 
15 and 16 March 2007, and the important message that was launched namely:  "no Doha Round 
without cotton being on board" ; 
  Following  with great attention and interest the work of the WTO negotiating bodies in 
general, and the work on cotton in particular; 
 
 Concerned  at the slow progress of the negotiations on cotton in the World Trade 
Organization and the continuing deterioration and precariousness of the situation in the African 
cotton-producing countries:  
1. Reaffirm  our support for the efforts of the Chairmen of the Negotiating Groups and the 
Director-General of the WTO to achieve a substantial outcome as quickly as possible; 
 2. Express  our deep concern at the continuation of the practices of subsidization and domestic 
support and their adverse impact on the economies  of our countries and on millions of people in 
Africa; 
 
3. Renew  our urgent appeal to the Members of the World Trade Organization, and in particular 
to the developed countries which create distortions on the international market by providing subsidies 
and domestic support, to strive for further progress in the work on cotton, with a view to achieving the 
objectives established for this vital issue; 
 
4. Reaffirm  that the modalities proposed by the co-spon sors of the Sectoral Initiative in Favour 
of Cotton, and supported by several WTO Members, ar e those that offer a balanced basis for a fair 
and lasting settlement of this issue;   WT/L/697 
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  5. Recall  the submission made by the co-sponsors of the Sectoral Initiative in Favour of Cotton 
on 1 March 2006, based on the Hong Kong Declaration,  which aims at strengthening the positions 
adopted at Hong Kong in pa ragraph 12 on "the end of subsidies";  and thus expect the Members of the 
WTO to commit themselves to reaching agreement, be fore the end of the Doha  Round, on an end-date 
for eliminating subsidies; 
 
6. Express  therefore our full support for the negotia ting modalities submitted by the Chairman 
of the Special Session of the Committee on Agricultur e on 17 July 2007, concerning the three pillars 
of the trade aspect of cotton:  domestic support;  market access;  and export competition, as a first step 
in the right direction; 
 
7. Emphasize  the need to ensure coherence between the trade and development aspects of the 
cotton issue, in particular by providing techni cal assistance and building capacity in the sector; 
 8. Invite , therefore, the development partners, bot h bilateral and multilate ral, to support the 
cotton sector in Africa; 
 9. Call for  the furtherance of capacity-building in itiatives between cotton- producing developing 
countries, in the context of South-South cooperation;  10. Express  our readiness to continue the reforms under way in the cotton sector in our countries; 
 
11. Draw  attention to the fact that the resources allo cated to African countries under debt relief or 
debt remission initiatives, and whic h are earmarked for speci fic sectors such as education, water and 
health, among others, should not be counted as c ontributions by the development partners to 
strengthening the cotton sector in the countries concerned; 
 
12. Reiterate  the necessity and urgency of establishing a safety net to manage revenue losses 
sustained by the African countries as a result of fluctuations in the price of cotton on the international market;  13. Remain  committed to working for an outcome to  the present Round of negotiations, which 
fully takes account of the concerns of the developi ng countries, and more particularly those of the 
least developed countries, which include among th em several African cotton-producing countries. 
  Done at Ouagadougou, 6 September 2007. 
 
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