. /.  WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION   
WT/CFMC/W/53 
8 November 2011 
 (11-5704) 
 Original:   French 
  
 
DIRECTOR-GENERAL'S CONSULTATIVE FRAMEWORK 
MECHANISM ON COTTON 
 
Communication from Burkina Faso 
 
 
 The following communication, dated 3 November 2011, is being circulated at the request of the delegation of Burkina Faso. 
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STATEMENT BY H.E. AMBASSADOR PROSPER VOKOUMA, 
PERMANENT REPRESENTATIVE OF BURKINA FASO AND 
C4 COORDINATOR, AT THE SIXTEENTH ROUND OF 
THE CONSULTATIVE FRAMEWORK 
MECHANISM ON COTTON 
 
 Mr Deputy Director-General representing the WTO Director-General Esteemed Ambassadors and Heads of Diplomatic Missions Ladies and Gentlemen 
 
1. Up to 2 November 2011, we had been anticipa ting the arrival of Mr P. Arthur Kafando, 
C4 Coordinating Minister, but unfortuna tely he has not been able to ma ke the trip to Geneva.  He asks 
me to pass on his greetings and looks forward to  seeing you at the next meeting of this body. 
2. In his stead, let me begin, on behalf of the four co-sponsors of the Sectoral Initiative in 
Favour of Cotton and of all the African cotton-producing countries and the ACP countries, by 
expressing my sincere thanks to Mr Harsha Vardha na Singh, Deputy Director-General of the WTO, 
for taking the initiative of convening this 16
th Round of the Consultative Framework Mechanism on 
Cotton. 
3. I would also like to extend a warm welcome to  H.E. Ambassador John Adank, Chairman of 
the Committee on Agriculture in Special Session a nd Chairman of the Sub-Committee on Cotton.  
The C4 wishes to assure him of its co mplete willingness to work with him. 
4. The cotton issue, as you know, is one of the th ree main areas of interest to the LDCs 
(duty-and quota-free market access, cotton and the se rvices waiver) with a view to agreeing on an 
early harvest by the 8th Ministerial Conference next December.  The fact is that the results of the 
consultations have been disappointing and th e likelihood of achieving a mini-package on the 
three issues of interest to the LDCs within that time-frame is growing slimmer and slimmer every day. 
5. In this critical context, the four co-sponsors of the Sectoral Initiative in Favour of Cotton 
would like, through me, to call upon all Members to  show responsibility and a firm commitment to 
reaching a fair settlement of the cotton issue. WT/CFMC/W/53 
Page 2  
 
  6. The conviction of the 36 African cotton-produci ng countries, which I squarely reaffirm here 
today, is that our economies would experience signi ficant growth if cotton trade-distorting subsidies 
were substantially lowere d or even abolished. 
7. Regarding the development aspect, which is the matter at hand today, our recent discussions 
during the 15
th Round of the Consultative Mechanism clearl y demonstrated the need to deepen the 
debate on the quality of the aid granted to the cotton industry in our countries. 
8. Indeed, more than five years on, it would seem that the outcomes of aid implementation are 
mixed, and the contributions of the development partners under the "development" aspect of cotton 
can be seen as resulting from efforts to improve  the competitiveness of our cotton sectors.  We 
believe, however, that these efforts deserve seri ous reassessment in order to maximize their 
effectiveness. 
9. Consequently, during their consultation meeti ng held in Cotonou in November 2010, the 
C4 Ministers agreed that it was necessary to reth ink the "development" aspect of the cotton issue and 
in particular to redefine the kind of aid to be  sought from the development partners.  This new 
approach should henceforth prevent financing fro m being "spread thin" over a multitude of scattered 
projects adopted at sector level in each of our countries and rather aim for a group dynamic with 
emphasis laid on collective projects that are innovativ e, multidimensional and integrated at C4 level 
and more generally across all 36 African cotton-producing countries. 
10. I should like to seize the opportunity afforded by the solemnity of this meeting to thank, on 
behalf of the 36 African cotton-producing countries and in particular the C4, all our development 
partners for their unwavering support for the Af rican cotton industry, whose existence remains 
threatened despite signs of recovery in industria l cotton consumption and the current level of world 
fibre prices.  We reiterate our wish to benefit fro m the various forms of support provided by the donor 
community in order to put announced projects into pr actice as quickly as possible.  The first of these, 
provisionally entitled " route du coton " (cotton roadmap), is already being prepared by the members of 
the C4 and we hope to be able to present it to you at our next meeting. 
11. I sincerely commend Mr Pascal Lamy, his colleagues and the entire staff of the 
WTO Secretariat for their availability and their co mmitment to working towards a fair settlement of 
the cotton issue. 
12. I would like to make special mention of Deput y Director-General Harsha Vardhana Singh for 
the skill and dexterity with which he has handled th e cotton issue and managed the Director-General's 
Consultative Framework Mechanism on Cotton.  I also appreciate the unwavering commitment of 
Mr C. Osakwe to strengthening the role and effectiveness of the Mechanism. 
13. Finally, I would ask that this statement be ci rculated to Members as an official document of 
the World Trade Organization.  
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