WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  WT/CFMC/W/49 
17 December 2010 
 
 (10-6788) 
 Original:   French 
  
 
DIRECTOR-GENERAL'S CONSULTATIVE FRAMEWORK 
MECHANISM ON COTTON 
 
Communication from Burkina Faso
 
 
 
 The following communication, dated 26 November 2010, is being circulated, at the request of the delegation of Burkina Faso, on behalf of the co-sponsors of the Sectoral Initiative in Favour of 
Cotton (C4).  
_______________ 
 
 
COTONOU DECLARATION BY THE MINISTERS OF TRADE OF  
THE MEMBER STATES OF THE WEST AFRICAN ECONOMIC  
AND MONETARY UNION (WAEMU) AND CHAD ON THE  
SECTORAL INITIATIVE IN FAVOUR OF COTTON 
 
 1. We, the Trade Ministers of the member States of the West African Economic and Monetary 
Union (WAEMU) and Chad , meeting for consultations in Cotonou (Benin) on 26 November 2010; 
2. Considering  the vital importance of cotton to  the economies of several African 
cotton-producing countries and in particular the WAEMU States; 
3. Considering  the distorting effects on the internati onal cotton market of the domestic support 
granted by certain developed countries to their cotton producers; 
4. Considering  the threat that this support poses to th e survival of the cotton industry in our 
countries and the resulting socioeconomic difficulties that are undermining the balance of our already 
vulnerable economies and aggravating poverty in our countries; 
5. Recalling  the Sectoral Initiative in Favour of Cotton launched at the World Trade 
Organization (WTO) in 2003 with a view to putting an end to practices contrary to WTO rules that pose a threat to the cotton sector and hence to the economies of our countries, which depend on 
cotton; 
6. Referring
 to the decisions that the Members of th e 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, requesting that the cotton issue be addressed "ambitiously, expeditiously and 
specifically" : 
 (a) Reaffirm
 the positions expressed in the Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso) Declaration of 
the C4 Ministerial Coordination M eeting of 8 October 2009 and endorse  the 
declaration of the 92nd session of the ACP Council of Ministers held from 8 to WT/CFMC/W/49 
Page 2  
 
  12 November in Brussels as well as that of the Ministers of Trade of the African 
Union meeting in Kigali (Rwanda) from 29 October to 2 November 2010; 
  (b) Once again launch
 an urgent appeal to WTO Members for the expeditious 
implementation of the Hong Kong mandate to  address the cotton issue "ambitiously, 
expeditiously and specifically", on the b asis of the proposals contained in the 
C4 submission (TN/AG/GEN/22 – TN/AG/SCC/GEN/6 of 16 June 2006) as well as the additional disciplines appearing in  the Draft Modalities for Agriculture 
(document TN/AG/W/4/Rev.4 of 6 December 2008); 
 
 (c) Reiterate
 our call for transitional measures for the African cotton-producing and 
exporting developing countries, including the establishment of a cotton sector support fund; 
  (d) Emphasize
 the need to continue to ensure  coherence between the trade and 
development aspects of the cotton issue; 
  (e) Welcome
 the efforts undertaken by the WTO Director-General through the various 
rounds of the Consultative Framework Mech anism on Cotton, as well as the financial 
contributions of the donor countries and organizations, including those provided in the framework of South-South cooperation; 
 
 (f) Endorse
 the calls by several international fo rums for the Doha Round negotiations to 
be concluded as rapidly as possible, ta king due account of the "development" 
dimension which must be the core of the Round, and to that end we call for the active and effective involvement of all WTO Members; 
 
 (g) Consider
 that a fair decision on the cotton i ssue remains a significant factor in the 
credibility of the multilateral trading system  and will determine the success of the 
Doha Round; 
  (h) Reiterate
 the need, in view of the slow pace of the Doha Round negotiations, to settle 
the cotton issue in the context of an early harvest; 
  (i) Instruct
 our negotiators, given the lack of si gnificant progress in the negotiations and 
in view of the need to safeguard the ser iously threatened survival of our cotton 
industry: 
 
(i) To continue to defend the cotton i ssue at the WTO with persistence and 
determination with a view to reaching a fair settlement as rapidly as possible and in conformity with the Hong Kong mandate; 
 
(ii) to take account during the negotia tions of the need for a link with the 
development aspect of the cotton issue, inter alia , through the 
WTO Director-General's Consultative Framework Mechanism on Cotton and the Aid-for-Trade initiative.  In this co nnection, we urge our negotiators to 
come up with a suitable framework for the development of a joint multidimensional and integrated project to be submitted to the development 
partners; 
  (j) Reaffirm
 our objective of ensuring, with the support of our bilateral and multilateral 
partners, the processing of a substantial quantity of the cotton produced in our 
countries, and to that end, we urge our States, the WAEMU Commission and all of  WT/CFMC/W/49 
 Page 3 
 
 
  the subregional organizations concerned to  take the required steps, which include 
seeking financing for the prompt review and implementation of the Agenda for the Competitiveness of the Cotton and Textiles Sector; 
  (k) Reaffirm
 also our readiness, as in the past, to  maintain dialogue with all of the 
stakeholders in the cotton issue and our commitment, our flexibility, and our 
determination to act as rapidly as possible to  find a satisfactory settlement of this 
issue, the solution of which will have a considerable impact on the economies and populations of numerous African cotton-producing countries; 
 
 (l) Express
 to his Excellency Dr Boni Yayi, Preside nt of the Republic of Benin, and to 
the Government and People of Benin, our d eep gratitude for their warm welcome and 
hospitality during our work in Cotonou. 
 Done at Cotonou, 26 November 2010. 
 
__________