WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION   
TN/AG/SCC/W/14 
WT/CFMC/32 14 July 2011 
 
 
(11-3501) 
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 KONG MINISTERIAL  
DECLARATION 
 
Item 2C - Coherence Between Trade and Development Aspects:  
Update on the Development Aspects of Cotton 
 
Secretariat Progress Report 
  
 
 
 
 
 
  
I. INTRODUCTION 
1. Pursuant to paragraph 12 of the Hong Kong Ministerial Declaration,
1 this is the Tenth 
Secretariat Progress Report to the Sub-Committee on Cotton (SCC) on the Development Assistance 
Aspects of Cotton.  Since the last Progress Report, th ere have been several developments.  First, on 
5 November 2010, the Director-General circulated the 10th version (WT/CFMC/6/Rev.9) of the 
Evolving Table on Cotton Development Assistance  (ET) under cover of his letter addressed to 
Ambassadors and Permanent Repr esentatives.  Second, the 14th Round of the Director-General's 
Consultative Framework Mechanism on Cotton (DGC FMC), took place on 9 December 2010.  Third, 
on 12 February 2011, at the Centre William Rappard, the C4 organized a workshop: " Atelier de 
réflexion sur le règlement des différends:  un atout ou une contrainte pour la négociation?  Le cas du 
coton à l'OMC ".  The workshop was a follow-up to a decisi on by the Ministers of the West African 
Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU), which took place in Cotonou on 25 November 2010.  
Finally, WTO Members have maintained an active interest on all aspects of the cotton dossier, as 
mandated in the 1 August 2004 Genera l Council Decision – "the July Fr amework Package" and, in the 
2005 Hong Kong Ministerial Declaration.   
II. 14TH ROUND OF THE DIRECTOR-GENERAL'S CONSULTATIVE FRAMEWORK 
MECHANISM ON COTTON 
2. The Chairman (DDG H.V. Singh) welcomed all participants to the 14th Round of the 
Director-General's Consultative Framework Mech anism on Cotton (DGCFMC).  He welcomed, in 
particular, H.E.  Mr. Léonce Koné, Minister for Commerce, Enterprise Promotion and Handicrafts 
                                                      
1 "We invite the Director-General to  furnish a third Periodic Report to our next Session, with updates at 
appropriate intervals in the meantime, to the General Council, while keeping the Sub-Committee on Cotton fully 
informed of progress"  (WT/MIN(05)/DEC:  paragraph 12).   This document has been prepa red under the Secretariat's own 
responsibility and without prejudice to the positions of Members 
and to their rights and obligations under the WTO. TN/AG/SCC/W/14 
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  from Burkina Faso.  After participating at the 13
th Round of the DGCFMC in June 2010, the WTO 
was pleased to have Minister Koné's return, at  a moment when new impetus had been received 
following the November 2010 Seoul G-20 Summit and the APEC Ministerial to rapidly advance the Doha Round in 2011.  The Chairman also welc omed H.E. Ambassador David Walker of New 
Zealand, Chairman of the Committee on Agriculture Special Session and its Sub-Committee on 
Cotton; representatives of the C4; and, acknowle dged the presence of Mr. Terry Townsend, the 
Executive Director of the International Cotton Advisory Committee (ICAC).   
3. Members and participants took note of the provi sional agenda.  The Chairman indicated that 
no issues had been signalled under Any Other Business.   
A. STATEMENT  BY THE  C4 COORDINATOR   
4. The representative of the C4 (H.E. Mr. Léonce Koné, Burkina Faso Minister for Commerce, 
Enterprise Promotion and Handicrafts), on behalf of  the C4, expressed appreciation for the invitation 
from the WTO Director-General to the 14th Round of the DGCFMC.   
5. He stated that he was back to the WTO becau se cotton remained the vital mainstay and the 
bedrock of several African economies, including th e C4, who were the co-authors of the Sectorial 
Initiative on Cotton (SIC) and who were amongst the poorest countries in the world.  Despite the 
establishment of the cotton mandate in the 1 August 2004 General Council Decision, the 
reinforcement of that mandate at the 2005 Hong Kong Ministerial Declaration, the distinction 
between the trade policy aspects and the development assistance aspects of the dossier, the creation of 
the Sub-Committee on Cotton (SCC) within the Comm ittee of Agriculture Special Session (CoA/SS), 
which had focused  on the mandate for an ambitious, expeditious and specific  treatment of the cotton 
dossier, and the several efforts undertaken by the authors, the dossier had not advanced in a 
satisfactory  manner.   
6. He recalled the C4 observation at the 13th Round that the trend was towards more support 
from development partners for the African cotton sector, improvements in domestic cotton sector 
reforms by African companies to enhance the perfo rmance of the African cotton sector and make it 
friendlier for business.  He thanked development part ners for their constant support to help address 
the productivity and capacity challenges of the African  cotton sector.  He highlighted the different 
projects and programmes by multilatera l and bilateral donors.  In order to improve the situation in the 
field and to better understand the specific needs for the development of the cotton sector in the C4 
countries, the C4 would focus on drawing-up common programmes and joint projects grouped 
together in "a basket of projects or programmes".  This collective approach to project formulation 
would be presented to the DGCFMC as soon as possible.   
7. The C4 believed that the development of their economies based on the cotton sector was 
possible, as long as the trade-distorting policies in the sector were correctly addressed and eliminated. 
In the face of legitimate and fair claims by the C4 for the elimination of trade-distorting subsidies, 
developed countries have advanced the argument that liberalization of the cotton sector was 
necessary.  Diversification would also be necessary.   The C4 restated its support for all the cotton 
provisions in the draft modalities revised on 6 De cember 2008.  The basis for the negotiations on 
cotton needed to fulfil the criteria set out in the Hong Kong Ministerial Declaration for cotton to be 
addressed ambitiously, specifically and expeditiously.  Resolving the cotton dossier required a systematic approach with clear and precise statis tics.  An ambitious result in accordance with the 
Hong Kong Ministerial Declaration must address and resolve the harmful effect of trade-distorting 
domestic support in the global cotton market.    TN/AG/SCC/W/14 
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  8. In the absence of an ambitious result for cotton, the C4 will use every means at its recourse to 
change the situation because those were defensive interests for millions of producers of cotton in 
Africa and at the heart of their very survival.   
9. He noted that Ministers of the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU) met 
in Cotonou, on the cotton dossier, on 26 November 2010.  At that meeting, the Ministers adopted a 
Declaration on the Sectorial Initiative on Cotton (SIC ).  The Declaration had been forwarded to the 
WTO Director-General, with the request that it be ci rculated as an official document of the WTO.  A 
more extensive Ministerial Declaration had also been adopted, which centred on the main issues 
linked to the participation and negotiations of the WAEMU countries in the EU/Africa Partnership 
Agreement and the Doha Round.  In that Declar ation, WAEMU Ministers expressed their concerns 
about the slow pace of the negotiations. They en couraged WTO Members to find the appropriate 
balance and solutions on specific issues in the negot iations.  In agriculture, solutions were required on 
the outstanding issues of special tropical products, erosion of tariff preferences, sensitive products, tariff simplification and quota expansion.  In te rms of market access for non-agricultural products, 
there was encouragement to  follow the Swiss model of sectoral negotiations.  Sectoral initiatives were 
also encouraged with regard to services.   
10. He recalled that the development aspects of the cotton dossier were an integral part of the 
Doha mandate.  That was why the C4 wanted to re-iterate its satisfaction with the creation and 
sustained functioning of the Director-General 's CFMC. The exercise to encourage support and 
transparency remained relevant in allowing aid flow s aimed at the development of the cotton sector in 
Africa.  However, difficulties remained with regard  to disbursements and project implementation.  
The C4 expressed its gratitude to all donors - bilatera l, regional, sub-regional, and multi-lateral - for 
their aid and support which came in different forms.   The C4 also wanted to underscore the link 
between the development aspects of the cotton dossier and the Aid for Trade initiative.  In recognition 
of this link, the C4 would submit to donors in the near future, a joint multi-dimensional project.   
11. In terms of domestic reforms of the cotton sector  and related reforms in African countries, the 
Minister confirmed that the requirement for those reforms was generally understood across the 
Continent. Every country involved was working on th is question of reform, with conviction, based on 
its national situation and with varying degrees of  success.  It was necessary to underline that the 
nature of these reforms were often costly and painful and not always compensated for by the 
corresponding or resulting gain, because of the slow  nature and the contin uing distortions in the 
global market.   
12. The C4 would have liked to see the Doha nego tiations accelerate so that the Round could be 
concluded in 2011.  The leaders of the G-20 met at the beginning of November 2010 in Seoul.  When 
they met, they called on their respective trade nego tiators to accelerate the rhythm of negotiations in 
order to bring the Doha Round to  a successful, ambitious and balanced  conclusion in 2011.  In order 
to achieve that, from the C4 point of view, the best test of success would be to see the cotton dossier 
dealt with in an early manner and given priority  for negotiation in 2011 and not back-loaded in the 
discussions.  Back-loading the discussions would entail serious risks for the cotton dossier in 
particular, for the negotiations as a w hole and seriously undermine them.  
13. The C4 congratulated and conveye d its gratitude to WTO Director-General Pascal Lamy and 
Secretariat staff for their availability, support and commitment to find a fair and balanced resolution 
for the cotton dossier.  The C4 al so wished to express its appreciation to the Chairman of the 
Committee on Agriculture Special Session and of its Sub-Committee on Cotton for his efforts at 
designing modalities that would be acceptable for a ll Members.  The C4 also thanked WTO Deputy 
Director-General Harsha V. Singh for his able l eadership of the cotton dossier and the manner in TN/AG/SCC/W/14 
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  which he had directed the work of the Direct or's General Consultativ e Framework Mechanism on 
Cotton.   
14. To conclude, on behalf of the C4, the Minister re quested that his statement be circulated to all 
Members as an official document of the WTO.   
15. The Chairman thanked Minister Koné and inv ited Ambassador David Walker, Chairman of 
the Committee on Agriculture Special Session (CoA /SS) and of its Sub-Committee on Cotton (SCC) 
to brief Members and participants on Item 3: Trade Policy Aspects of Cotton, within the framework of 
the agriculture negotiations.   
B. TRADE  POLICY  ASPECTS  OF COTTON 
16. The Chairman of the Committee on Agriculture Special Session and of its Sub-Committee on 
Cotton thanked Minister Koné and Members/participants of the DGCFMC.  He recalled that the G-20 
meeting in Seoul, the APEC Summit in Yokohama and other high-level fora had declared that they 
had the objective of concluding the Doha Round in wh at had been identified as a critical window of 
opportunity in 2011.  To that end, therefore, th e negotiation process was intensifying.  Clear targets 
and objectives had been set out through the Trade Negotiations Committee (TNC) that had been held 
the previous week, as a follow-up to the political declarations.  In terms of agriculture, including 
cotton, an intensive process of negotiations had been planned from 17 January 2011.  That would be 
part of the intensification of negotiations right acr oss the board in all areas of the Doha Round.  The 
intensified process would continue for as long as re quired to build the basis for revised texts.  
Ambassador Walker explained that the emphasis w as being placed on texts in order to strive to 
achieve the goal of concluding the Round before th e end of December 2011.  The package deal, in 
which all of the legal texts and schedules were to be  formulated, had to be decided, according to the 
TNC Chairman, by a minimum of six to seven m onths in advance.  The estimate for the most 
optimistic scenario meant the package deal had to  be decided, including on cotton, by June.  
Therefore, the task between 17 January 2011 and whenev er those decisions were made in June, was to 
set the basis for those decisions through the develo pment of draft texts, and/or clearly identify the 
options.   
17. He noted that Members were not waiting until 17  January 2011 to start the negotiations, but 
were in fact meeting in the negotiating group in the week of 6 December.  Work was underway across 
all aspects of the negotiations in preparation fo r the resumed meetings from 17 January.  It was 
expected that Members would also be work ing amongst themselves before that date.   
18. Specifically, on cotton, Ambassador Walker informed the DGCFM that he had met a number 
of Ambassadors and Capital-based officials the da y before to review the provisions in the draft 
modalities on cotton.  All of the Participants at that  meeting were united in the view that the cotton 
issue needed to be resolved, pur suant to the Hong Kong Ministerial Declaration as part of the process 
of bringing the negotiations on agriculture to a succe ssful conclusion.  In sum, a process had been set 
up from 17 January 2011, where all issues, including cotton, would have to be resolved to the 
satisfaction of all.  It had also been understood th at the cotton issue needed to be addressed as a matter 
of urgency.   
19. The representative of Brazil intervened with tw o statements on behalf of the G-20 and on 
behalf of Brazil.   
20. On behalf of the G-20, he reiterated full s upport for the demands and positions of the C4 in 
both its trade and development dimensions.  Cotton remained a vital component of the Doha Round 
Agriculture Negotiations.  The legitimacy of the mandate was revealed by the fact that developing  TN/AG/SCC/W/14 
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  country producers and exporters of cotton, particularly the poorest among them, continued to face the 
unfair competition from developed countries subsidi es.  Recent domestic support notifications to the 
Committee on Agriculture had underscored once again th at, even in the context of high international 
commodity prices, cotton producers of developed countries continued to benefit from unacceptably 
high levels of transfers from national treasuries.  The G-20 expressed its solidarity with the C4 and 
would continue to work closely with them in favour of an agreement on modalities that addressed 
cotton ambitiously, specifically, expeditiously in accordance with the mandate agreed by all WTO 
Members at the 2005 Hong Kong Ministerial Conference.   
21. On behalf of Brazil, he emphasised that cotton,  both in its trade and development aspects, was 
a vital component of the Doha Development Agenda.  One of the innovative features of the work of 
the Director-General's Consultative Framework Mechanism was that it assigned due importance to 
South-South Cooperation to cotton producers in Africa.  He noted that the previous day, consultations 
on cotton had been held in the CoA/SS.  Unfortunate ly, in that case, no news was bad news.  Brazil 
fully associated itself with the concern expressed by Minister Koné about the lack of progress in the 
ongoing negotiations on cott on in the DDA.  For that progress to ta ke place, major subsidizers had to 
display the necessary political will.   
22. Another aspect related to market developments was that, due to exceptional circumstances in 
connection with crop failures and measures taken by certain producers, cotton prices had reached the 
highest level since 1995.  Market prices and future  prices were far beyond the levels that would 
trigger US domestic support payments.  The wron g lessons should not be drawn from that unusual 
scenario.  While producers in developed countries continued to count on programmes in place that 
allowed them to insure their crops against price vol atility, they still maintained production levels far 
beyond market requirements.  That was no time for co mplacency.  He stressed that it was necessary to 
seize that moment of exception to move forw ard with necessary reforms of trade-distorting 
programmes.   
23. He recalled for participants of the DGCFMC that, as communicated at the last meeting, as a 
result of the ruling of the arbitrat ors in the cotton dispute with the United States, Brazil had started a 
bilateral process with that country with a view to  implementing real reform of trade-distorting US 
programmes.  Those negotiations continued and si nce the last meeting of the DGCFMC, a Round of 
bilateral consultations had taken pl ace in October and the C4 had been kept informed every step of the 
way.  
24. On South-South Cooperation, recent experi ence showed its effectiveness and its positive 
impact on the development dimension of the trading system.  Bilaterally, as the latest version of the 
Evolving Table of cotton showed, Brazil conti nued to implement an ambitious programme of 
cooperation, technical assistance, technology transfer  and capacity building with Benin, Burkina Faso, 
Chad and Mali on cotton.  Later, Dr. Di Steffa no, from the Brazilian Enterprise for Agriculture 
Research (Embrapa), Head of Brazil's Cooperati on Unit in Sotuba, Mali, would be presenting the 
latest developments in the cooperation progra mme involving the Brazilian Agency for Cooperation 
(ABC)/Embrapa and the C4 countries.  At a second st age, Brazil intended to extend this initiative to 
the other cotton-producing countries in Africa.  Br azil was confident that the said cooperation would 
provide a major contribution to addressing structural challenges in those countries.   
25. The representative of Zambia, on behalf of the LDCs' Consultative Group, thanked the 
Director-General for convening the Consultativ e Framework Mechanism on Cotton.  The DGCFMC 
was unquestionably a useful mechanism for focusing the discussions on cotton.  On behalf of the 
LDCs' Consultative Group, he welcomed the C4 coordinator, H.E. Minister Koné.  The LDCs' 
Consultative Group appreciated his leadership in adva ncing the concerns relating to cotton in order to 
ensure that a lasting solution was found.  The LD Cs' Consultative Group associated itself with the TN/AG/SCC/W/14 
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  statement made by the coordinator of the C4.  The Group welcomed the political signals emanating 
from the APEC and G-20 meetings to conclude the Round in 2011.  The Group also thanked the 
Chairman of the CoA/SS and of its SCC for his status reports on the negotiations on Agriculture, 
which called for intensified work.  The LDCs' Cons ultative Group believed that the conclusion of the 
Round would bring development benef its to developing countries.   
26. The LDCs' Consultative Group welcomed the call made by the TNC Chairman for intensified 
work.  The Group re-expressed its standing and fre quently repeated position that cotton should be 
addressed as a matter of priority.  Cotton was a litmus test for development in the Doha Round.  Successful outcomes on the trade and development as pects of cotton would no doubt have immediate 
impact on the millions of people dependent on cott on for their livelihood.  The LDCs' Consultative 
Group reiterated the importance of adhering to the ma ndate for cotton as set out in the 1 August 2004 
General Council Decision and re-affirmed and extended in the 2005 Hong Kong Ministerial 
Declaration, for cotton to be addressed amb itiously, specifically, and expeditiously.   
27. The LDCs' Consultative Group also took note of  the statement made by Brazil and welcomed 
the gesture by Brazil in support of the C4 and African cotton producers.   
28. The representative of Argentina agreed that th ere was a pressing need to effectively work 
very hard to find solutions to the outstanding issues in Agriculture in order to achieve a successful and 
balanced conclusion of the Doha Round in 2011.   
29. On the outstanding issues in Agriculture, th e critical question to address was the trade-
distorting subsidies affecting cotton trade.  Even  with the reduction formula for cotton subsidies 
proposed by the C4, a proposal Argentina supporte d, it remained doubtful that that would have 
concrete results for development because at the same time the draft modalities also provided for 
greater flexibility in the green box disciplines.  Cu ts in trade-distorting subsidies for cotton would 
probably be compensated for by an increase in green  box direct payments, which would have a similar 
distorting effect.   
30. Argentina supported the statement made by the representative of Brazil, on behalf of the G-
20.  Argentina re-affirmed its willingness to work within the framework of the agreed mandates for 
the Doha Round so that an ambitious and balanced  outcome could be achieved.  That would be 
consistent with the development objectives which Argentina had always defended.   
31. The representative of Colombia reiterated his coun try's concern at the lack of progress in the 
cotton negotiations.  That was a priority for his country and other developing countries that had 
experienced a significant loss in production and in em ployment as a result of the distortions that were 
prevalent in the world cotton market.  
32. The results from the cotton negotiations would demonstrate the most concrete and effective 
development dividends in the Doha Development Round negotiations and in favour of free and fair 
trade.  The developing countries wanted to see produ ction conditions and comparative advantage to be 
the determining factors for production and trade.  Colombia hoped that the main parties involved 
would show a political commitment that had b een expressed at recent G-20 and APEC Summit 
meetings by making concrete proposals as soon as possible on the basis on what had been agreed in Hong Kong so as to give cotton the ambitious, e xpeditious and specific treatment that had been 
mandated and was required.  Colo mbia reiterated its commitment to the African Group and the C4 
proposal.   
33. The representative of Australia acknowledged that global protectionist measures in relation to 
cotton production were major concerns for cott on-producing and trading developing countries,  TN/AG/SCC/W/14 
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  particularly in Africa.  Australia shared these c oncerns.  Australia remained firmly committed to 
securing reform in agricultural markets through the Doha Round and continued to support efforts to 
reform the global cotton market.  Australia was comm itted, in particular, to finding a solution that 
addressed the issue of cotton ambitiously, expeditious ly and specifically as mandated in the July 2004 
framework and consistent with the commitments made at the Hong Kong Ministerial in 2005.  
Australia signalled that in the past year it ha d developed an A$ 100 million programme on African 
Food Security, which focused on lifting agricultural productivity through international agricultural research and development and suppor ting marketing development by linking small-scale farmers to 
markets in Southern and Eastern Africa.  Australia  anticipated that those programmes would provide 
broader benefits to the agricultural sectors in a number of African countries, including the cotton-
producing and trading countries.  Once those progr ammes were specifically finalized, Australia would 
seek to include them in the Director-General's  Evolving Table on Cotton Development Assistance 
(ET).   
34. The representative of India noted that hard wo rk was under way to conclude the Doha Round 
in 2011.  For that to happen, however, there was a need to bring a large number of elements together 
on which there was lack of resolution.  Of all the issues still unresolved in the agriculture negotiations, 
the widest gaps were on cotton, because there had been no meaningful discussions at all on the cotton 
issue in the Doha Round negotiating group since 2006.   That was a very dismaying and disquieting 
feature.   
35. He said that India fully supported the statement by the G-20.  The cotton dossier must not be 
left for resolution only at the last moment.  There were a large number of developing country 
producers, including India, which would have to ha ve full knowledge of what was being contemplated 
or offered by the major subsidizers.  Those w ho bear responsibility for reducing the use of trade-
distorting subsidies needed to come forward and let the whole membership of the WTO, developing 
countries and the C4 know in particular what they had in mind to resolve the problem.   
36. His delegation had noted the very abnormal spike in the prices and understood that the 
International Advisory Committee (ICAC) would be  making a short presentation on the issue of 
cotton price patterns.  India had been a Member of  the ICAC for very long and was aware of their 
analysis, which indicated two main reasons for abnormal spike in prices.  First was the acute 
mismatch between demand and supply.  That mismatch could not be resolved by increasing production in just one country.  India also knew that, if the level of subsidies continued to be at the 
same level as in the past years, there would be an asymmetric production, leaving many of the 
developing country producers out in the cold, or comple tely left out of the benefits to be gained from 
increased production.   
37. In the context of developing countries, especially the C4, and the poorer producers it needed 
to be noted that they did not have the flexibility to substitute and switch from cotton to corn, or to 
Soya, for example.  That was the privilege of farmers in developed countries that were heavily 
subsidizing their crops.  Farmers in developing coun tries, who were mainly small farmers, needed a 
predictable and certain environment.  They needed to know that the subsidies would be reduced and 
would not continue to distort global prices.  Ther eafter, they could tentatively plan to increase 
production.  There had to be clarity on the cotton pa ckage before the conclusion of the Doha Round.  
That was an imperative.   
38. He said that as far as market access for the cott on-producing LDCs was concerned, India had 
already mentioned that in accord ance with the cotton mandate in the Hong Kong Declaration, it had 
already provided duty-free access to LDC producers of  cotton.  There was also a scheme to provide 
technical and financial assistance and capacity buildi ng for the LDCs in West and East Africa.  India 
had also taken an initiative in Chad and would conti nue to support this collective effort to transfer TN/AG/SCC/W/14 
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  technology and build capacity so that the hardship faced by the small farmers of the C4 and other 
poorer developing countries  could be addressed.   
39. The representative of Pakistan associated her de legation with the statements made by Brazil 
on behalf of the G-20 and the C4.  Pakistan, as one of the major cotton-producing countries, was 
keenly watching the conclusion of the cotton issue in  the Doha Round.  Recently, Pakistan had almost 
20 per cent of its cotton crop destroyed because of a national calamity.  The plight of poor, small farmers was serious and unimaginable.  In Pakistan, cotton remained one of the areas of focus for poverty elimination.  Therefore, enhanced production under competitive trading conditions was 
extremely important for Pakistan.   
40. The representative of Egypt associated his delega tion with the statements by the G-20 and the 
C4.  The cotton dossier was vital to the development and survival of the C4 economies and other 
cotton-producing developing countries.  It was time for the markets involved to show real engagement 
and leadership to resolve this unfair situation.   
41. The representative of Ecuador underscored its concern at the lack of progress in the 
negotiations on cotton.  He hoped that the major st akeholders on the cotton question would work to 
advance the negotiations.  He associated himself with  the statements by Brazil on behalf of G-20 and 
the C4.  It was also the position of his delegation that negotiations to resolve the cotton issue should 
not be back-loaded and left to the last minute.   
42. The representative of China supported the G-20 stat ement by Brazil.  China reiterated that the 
cotton question was a significant and central comp onent in the Doha Round agriculture negotiations 
and should be addressed ambitiously, specifically a nd expeditiously, pursuant to the Mandate agreed 
by all Members at the Hong Kong Ministerial Mee ting.  China shared th e common assessment that 
there would be no solution to the Doha Round without  a satisfactory resolution of the cotton issue.  
China strongly supported the position of the C4 in the negotiations on cotton.  China would continue 
to work closely with the C4 for an ambitious and balanced solution to the cotton issue. China 
appreciated the efforts made by Director-General, manifested in the Director-General's Consultative 
Framework Mechanism for Cotton, wh ich provided a positive platform for South-South Cooperation.   
43. He referred to several recent developm ents and contributions by China.   
 First, the Agricultural Technical and Demons tration Centres.  Since 2008, the Chinese 
Government had been constructing 14 Agricu ltural Technology Demonstration Centres in 14 
African countries, including Tanzania, Zambia, Cameron, Benin and Mali.  That was in 
keeping with the commitment made by the Ch inese Government during the China-Africa 
Cooperation Forum Summit. Those centres would be used to train agricultural technicians and 
farmers, to demonstrate and extend agricultura l technologies, including for cotton farming.  
All the construction work for the 14 centres in those African countries was due for completion 
by the end of 2010.  As the 14 Agricultura l centres were being completed, the Chinese 
Government had also declared at the 4th Ministerial Meeting of the China-Africa Forum a new 
commitment to build six agricultural technical and demonstration centres in six African 
countries.  With the completion of those new cen tres, China would have constructed a total of 
20 such centres in African countries.  That would assist African farmers, particularly cotton 
farmers, with technology transfer.  To rein force that objective, the Chinese Government 
would deploy more than 50 Chinese agricultural sp ecialists to work in those centres, focusing 
on technical extension and training.  
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   Second, South-South Cooperation.  Under the framework for South-South Cooperation, 
China, in conjunction with the United Nati ons Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO), 
had dispatched more than 800 agricultural t echnicians and specialists to seven African 
countries.  They were working to support African cotton-producing countries.  China had also 
donated US$30 million to the FAO, to establish a Trust Fund to help African countries to 
strengthen and enhance their agricultural productivity.  
 Third, the China-Africa Agriculture Cooperati on Forum.  On 12 August 2010, the China-
Africa Agriculture Cooperation Forum was held in Beijing.  Fourteen Ministers of Agriculture and ambassadors from 18 African countries, including Zambia, Mali, Kenya and Zimbabwe attended the forum.  The forum ag reed to the “Beijing Declaration”, which 
strengthened the cooperation between China and A frican countries in agriculture, in particular 
in agricultural technology transfer, agricultura l product processing, marketing and trading, 
and agricultural production, capacity and training .  Cotton production and trade promotion in 
African countries were exhaustively addressed at the forum.    
 Fourth, cotton-related assistance and aid.  Chin a continued to provide assistance for African 
cotton development through various forms of assi stance and aid, such as investments, loans 
with preferential rates, etc.  Those investme nt and loan projects encompassed the areas of 
cotton production, technology transfer, r esearch and development and shared China’s 
experiences in such areas.  Those projects we re generating economic benefits for cotton 
farmers in African cotton-producing countries.   
 
 Fifth, training.  Since 2008, China had hosted a large number of training courses focused on 
new cotton breeds (varieties), new cultivati on methods, technology transfer, research and 
development in cotton and capacity-building.  About 400 trainees from African countries had 
been trained in those courses.  Within the ne xt three years, China would send another 500 
agricultural technicians and specialists, including  on cotton, to African countries to train more 
than 2,000 local technicians and extension workers.   
 
 Six, trade.  In 2010, China significantly increased its cotton imports.  The import volume, 
between January and October 2010 attained 2.25  million tons; an increase of 88 per cent, 
compared to the level of imports in the previ ous year.  China was increasing the share of its 
import from the C4 and other African countries.  For instance, the share of cotton imports 
from African countries increased by 17 per cent in the period between January and October 
2010.  Imports from African countries in 2009 experienced an increase of 30 per cent in 
volume.  Burkina Faso, Cameroun, Benin and Mali were the top four exporters to China in 2010.   
 
44. In conclusion, he noted that China was the world's biggest producer and importer of cotton.  
He emphasised that China would continuously keep its cotton trade policy stable and would provide 
equal and fair market opportunity for all cotton pr oducers, especially for A frican producers.  China 
would work cooperatively with the C4 and other African countries for improved cotton development 
and trade.   
45. The representative of the United States noted  that the item under discussion on the agenda 
was specifically focused on trad e.  As such, his delegation would limit its comments to the trade 
policy aspects.   The US welcomed the characterizat ion by the Chairman of the CoA/SS regarding the 
intensification of the process and the clear direction in which Members were headed.  Relative to the 
statements that had already been made, he stressed that the long-standing position of the United States 
on the Doha agriculture negotiations with respect to  cotton had not changed.  To re-iterate, that TN/AG/SCC/W/14 
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  position was that it would be necessary to first de termine the general commitment and modalities of 
the three pillars in the agricultural negotiations, and thereafter, the commitments on cotton could be 
made, pursuant to the Hong Kong mandate.  His dele gation looked forward to the intensive period of 
negotiations over the following weeks and months.  In that period, the United States would be 
available for engagement on those and all other topics.   
46. The representative of the European Union th anked H.E. Minister Koné for his opening 
statement and noted that he had given a very inte resting oversight of the situation.  The EU had 
always played an active role on the issue of cott on in the framework of the Doha Round and had been 
particularity supportive of the trade interests of developing countries.  The high level of ambition for 
the negotiating position within the DDA reflected th e magnitude of the cotton policy reform that the 
EU had already undertaken on all three p illars of the agriculture negotiations.   
47. On market access, the EU market  was already duty-free and quota-free.  There were no export 
subsidies for cotton.  On domestic support, the most trade-distorting subsidies for cotton production 
had been fully eliminated.  Concessions made by the EU on cotton were specific.  They were more 
ambitious than for other commodities.  The c oncessions made by the EU could be qualified as 
expeditious, in keeping with the mandate for cott on.  The EU had gone further than the Hong Kong 
Mandate in the area of cotton.  In fact, the far-re aching cotton reform by the EU dated back to 2006.  
Some other Members may not be able to fully im plement the DDA mandate on cotton, before 2012, at 
best.  The EU was well ahead of schedule.  The EU  remained committed to achieve an ambitious and 
balanced outcome for the DDA with a specific and am bitious deal for cotton.  The EU welcomed with 
satisfaction the challenging schedule that the Chairm an of the CoA/SS and of its SCC had shared with 
Members.   
48. To provide a necessary perspective, although the EU was a marginal producer of cotton it was 
still the largest provider of development assistance in  this area; approximating about 52 per cent of all 
assistance delivered.   
49. The Chairman concluded Item 3 by noting that it was self-evident from the exchange of views 
that cotton remained an issue to which Members attached high priority. He invited the DGCFMC to 
take note of all the statements made.   
50. The DGCFMC took note of all the statements made.   
C. DOMESTIC COTTON SECTOR AND OTHER REFORMS / NATIONAL FOCAL POINTS  
51. The Chairman invited participants to take up It em 4 of the Agenda:  "Domestic Cotton Sector 
and Other Reforms / National Focal Points".   
52. He noted that domestic cotton sector and wider reforms had been on the agenda of the 
DGCFMC consultations from the very beginning in 2004.  At the 11th Round of Consultations, the 
Secretariat had produced the First Version of the "Table on Domestic Cotton Sector Reforms for Cotton Sector Development" (WT/CFMC/21).  That version had been circulated, based on inputs 
from cotton proponents.  The Third Version of th e "Table on Domestic Cotton Sector Reforms for 
Cotton Sector Development" (WT/CFMC/21/Rev.2), had been circulated on 5 November 2010, based on inputs from Benin, Burkina Faso and Mali.   
53. He conveyed appreciation to Benin, Burkina F aso and Mali for investing time and effort in 
domestic coordination to provide the inputs for the prep aration of the Third Version of the Table.  He 
noted that Chad had submitted a document entitled "R oadmap for Cotton Sector Reform in Chad", 
which was available to participants.  Also befo re the DGCFMC was the document prepared by the  TN/AG/SCC/W/14 
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  International Cotton Advisory Committee (ICAC).   That document, which provided factual 
information on the "Evolution of Domestic Cotton Sector Reforms in the C4 Countries", had been 
circulated as WT/CFMC/30.   
54. Over time, the constructive donor / recipient dialogue, under that item, had underlined the 
relationship between resources provided by the de velopment community, on the one hand, and the 
more efficient resource use by recipients of assist ance, on the other hand.  He invited Members and 
participants, to comment on the Table en tries in document WT/CFMC/21/Rev.2.   
55. The representative of Chad expressed appreci ation to development partners who had 
continued to provide support to the African cott on sector.  He endorsed the statement made by the 
coordinator of the C4 and highlighted the specifi c needs of each Member of the C4 in the cotton 
sector.   
56. The aim of the reforms in Chad was to make th e sector more competitive, increase yields in 
order to achieve the desired results.  Chad planne d to achieve that objective by the adoption of a 
roadmap of the cotton sector, which it was currently im plementing.  Via that roadmap, Chad had laid 
out the steps that would be taken to improve the cotton sector and liberalize it.   
57. Chad had been involved in a number of key activ ities to that end.  A technical team had been 
set up to implement change in the sector. They ha d drawn up the necessary steps that needed to be 
taken.  The committee that was responsible for the reform of the cotton sector had run into several 
difficulties in its work.  Activities in the roadmap had, in some cases, been delayed in implementation.   
58. Finally, the resignation of the head of the Coor dinating Technical Team and the fact that no 
replacement had been appointed had led to stagnation.  When a replacement was appointed, then work 
would be continued.  Updates would be provided to the DGCFMC.   
59. The representative of Mali said his country had updated the Table on Domestic Cotton Sector 
Reforms in preparation for the 14th session of the DGCFMC.  Mali only needed to update its inputs 
with additional information on privatization.  Mali had been engaged in a privatization process since 
20 February 2010 when it launched a request for "te nders" for the privatization of the CMDT.  The 
opening of this bidding process allowed for the sel ection of necessary investors.  A meeting with 
those investors had taken place in October.  As a r esult of that meeting, a time table had been drawn 
up with a deadline for the receipt of bids by 20 December 2010.  A final decision on privatization was scheduled for May 2011.   
60. On cotton production, the data for the 2009- 2010 season indicated a slight increase in 
production.  Mali hoped that there would be furt her improvements in the following season.   
61. The representative of the United States stressed that Item 4 was an important agenda item in 
the DGCFMC in terms of the overall structure a nd balance of achieving the objectives under this 
rubric of cotton and trade and development.  Certai nly, while the C4 and other West African countries 
had been receiving cotton-specific and other develo pment assistance for progress in the cotton sector 
and privatization, there was still much room for improvement.  The reports that had been received 
were welcome.  He stated that his delegation wanted see more frequent reports by the recipient 
countries on their domestic cotton sector projects and on the mechanisms and reform process that they 
were undertaking.   
62. He said that his delegation had taken note of  the activities contained in the documents 
presented in outlining the implementation of domestic  priorities and action plans.  Certainly, there 
was a degree of progress, although there were area s of disappointment as well in the development of TN/AG/SCC/W/14 
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  the plans.  His delegation also had concerns with the differences in the rate of implementation.  The 
effort by Chad was welcomed, but his delegati on noted that there had been a severe lack of 
information in the past.   
63. The representative of Zambia thanked the C4 fo r their inputs that made it possible for the 
secretariat to update its reports and also thanked the institutions that have provided information on the 
reform of the domestic cotton sector.  His delegation had noted a number of initiatives that had been taken by the individual countries. Those countries were making serious efforts to make sure that their cotton sectors were revived, secured and survived.  His delegation had also taken note of the progress 
that had been made from the time that those reports  had been presented.  It was obvious that indeed 
there was a challenge for the cotton sector.  As hi ghlighted in one of the reports, in WT/CFMC/30, 
what was evident was a significan t increase in cotton production and then a decrease of more than 50 
per cent, which demonstrated the challenges faced by the sector.  For instance, the report also 
indicated that in the period between 2004 and 2005, th e C4 were able to record a very high production 
level of about 759,000 tons.  But, that level had fallen to 303,000 t ons in 2010.  That variability, and 
the decrease in particular, were linked to the extent  of effects of the trade components being discussed 
in the DGCFMC.  Reforms were taking place at the dom estic level.  To ensure that the benefits of 
those reforms were reaped, it was important to ensure that production was taking place within a 
competitive environment for such reforms to be meaningful.   
64. The Chairman concluded the item by expressing particular appreciation to Benin, Burkina 
Faso and Mali, for their inputs, which made po ssible the update of the Table on Domestic Cotton 
Sector Reforms, reflected in Version 3 of the Table.   He thanked Chad for the submission of its input 
entitled "Roadmap for Cotton Sector Reform in Chad ".  He also thanked the ICAC for the useful 
information provided on the Evolution of Cotton Sector Reforms in the C4 countries.   
65. He expressed his appreciation to Members and participants for their comments on the Table 
contained in WT/CFMC/21/Rev.2.  He stated hi s belief that the exchanges would continue to 
encourage and deepen that process of engagement.  He  encouraged others who had not yet done so to 
consider submitting their inputs to the Secretariat, as early as possible for the Fourth Version of the 
Table.  Finally, he proposed that the 14th R ound of the DGCFMC take note of the reports, updates 
provided and statements made.   
66. The DGCFMC took note of all the reports, updates provided and statements made.   
67. Still under Item 4, the Chairman invited Members and participants at the DGCFMC to 
consider the sub-item "Submission of the coordinat es for designated National Cotton Focal Points".  
He repeated earlier announcements that, so far, the Secretariat had only received and registered 
returns from seven proponent countries.  That was the same number as in October 2009.  Those were 
contained in Part IV of the Ta ble on Cotton Development Assistance (WT/CFMC/6/Rev.9).  He urged 
cotton proponent countries to take action, as quickly  as possible, to designate their National Cotton 
Sector Focal Points because they were useful in the process.  
D. COTTON  PRODUCTION  AND  TRADE  TRENDS   
68. The Chairman invited the 14th Round of the DGCFMC to consider Item 5:  Cotton Production 
and Trade Trends.   
69. Under that item, he noted that in 2008 and 2009, the cotton sector had been subjected to 
significant adversity resulting from a succession of cr ises, which reflected the global financial and 
economic crisis during that period.  Many co tton-producing and exporting countries had been 
negatively affected, particularly the African countri es, of which several depended on the cotton sector  TN/AG/SCC/W/14 
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  for their growth and poverty-reduction strategi es as well as for rural well-being and livelihood 
concerns.  Over the last few months, cotton prices appear ed to be registering historically high levels.   
70. He invited Mr. Townsend, the Executive Direct or of the International Cotton Advisory 
Committee (ICAC), to make a factual presentation on the state of the global cotton sector in 2010 and 
the near to future-term prospects for cotton price, production and trade trends.   
71. The representative of the International Cotton Advisory Committee (ICAC) thanked WTO 
Members and participants at the DGCFMC for allowing the ICAC Secretariat to make a presentation.  
72. As introduction, he noted that the cotton industr y collaborated with natural fibre industries, 
including wool, silk, jute and others to promot e consumption of natural fibres.  He urged WTO 
Member governments to be aware of the importance of natural fibre industries in promoting economic 
growth and employment in developing countries.   
73. He recalled the introductory statement by the Ch airman to underline the fact that those were 
indeed exciting times in the cotton industry.  The ICAC representative made a chart-based 
presentation of price (from the Cotlook A-index) and fu tures (New York Futures) trends and patterns 
from 2005 to the present.  In doing so, he stressed th at cash and futures prices were highly correlated, 
over 90 per cent of the time.   
74. Early in the decade of the 2000's and continui ng to 2005/2006, prices were relatively low 
between US¢50 - US¢60 per pound of cotton lint.  T hose prices were also relatively stable. Market 
participants became accustomed to a situation in which that price trend appeared to be normal.   
75. In March 2008 there had been a sp ike in prices.  In hindsight, this seemed to be rather modest.  
At the time, it provoked a crisis. It resulted in th e collapse or bankruptcy of a number of important 
firms.  With the recession beginning in 2008, con tinuing through early 2009, cotton prices had fallen 
again to "normal levels", at around US¢50 per pound of  cotton lint.  At the beginning of 2009, prices 
had risen again almost uninterruptedly to a record of more than US¢170 per pound of cotton lint.  That was an extraordinary price peak, even when deflated.   
76. There were two periods of cris is:  the one in 2008, had resulted in basically a dysfunction in 
the world cotton market.  Merchants went bankrupt.  Farmers could not sell.  Textile mills could not 
buy for a short period of time.   A major difference in the current period of high prices was that the 
market continued to function.  He noted that at that period, even with very high prices and volatility, 
there were no reports of merchants going out of bu siness.  Textile mills were buying.  Farmers and 
producer groups were engaged in "forward selling".  Markets were functioning.  The major reason for 
the market dysfunction in 2008 was because the sp ike in prices was caused by speculation in the 
cotton market.  By contrast, in the current situati on, however, the level of high prices was caused by 
unexpected strong demand.  With strong demand a ffecting the fundamentals for the market, the 
market continued to operate.   
77. There had been comparable periods in the past to the current period of high prices and 
volatility.  In a normal year, cotton prices were usua lly about 20 per cent above or below the average 
at some point in the season, for a common spread of about 40 percentage points.   However, there were 
years when that spread widened to about 60 or 70 per centage points.  In the current year, so far, cotton 
prices had been as much as 45 per cent above th e average and as much as 25 per cent below the 
average, for a spread of 70 per cent.  In the past, a degree of comparable volatility had been registered 
in 1986/87.  However, there had been other years wh en the volatility had been in the range of 50-60 
per cent.  So, 2010 was a very unusual year, but comparable to some seasons in the past.   TN/AG/SCC/W/14 
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  78. It was essential to stress that the current spik e in price was caused by fundamental factors of 
demand and supply rather than speculation.  The representative of ICAC described the patterns and 
principal trends from June 2006.  In March 2008, th e speculative activity p eaked.  Open interest 
exceeded more than a million contracts and speculative  open interest grew faster than cotton prices.  
In contrast, in 2010, prices rose faster than sp eculative open interest.  In the 2008 period, price 
increases, were followed by specu lative buying, whereas in the 2006 period, increased speculation 
was followed by increased purchases.  The current 2010 situation of high prices were being driven by fundamental factors, not by speculativ e activity in the cotton market.   
79. The pattern in different years was that someti mes production was above consumption, or vice 
versa - in years when consumption was greater  than production.  In 2004/05, there was an 
extraordinary rise in cotton yields and production w ith a registered record of 27 million tons.  The 
economy was expanding rapidly.  Consumption was st rong.  Nevertheless, production increased to the 
extent that a gap emerged of more than 3 million tons.  That gap persisted for four seasons.  In 
2004/05, a build-up in stocks occurre d and persisted up until 2008/09.  Finally, in the 2009/10 season, 
world production dropped with the expectation of lo wer prices in the recession and consumption rose.  
Consumption had not been expected to rise in light of the analysis in the period (late 2009 early 2010 
period) by economists concerned with the strength of the world recovery.  Some had projected either a 
double-dip recession, or a very slow recovery.  As a consequence, retailers, manufacturers of clothing, 
fabric and yarn, including producers were reluctant to  invest in increased production.  The effect was 
that stocks were drawn down throughou t the textile value chain.  With the rise in consumption, stocks 
were not available to supply the stronger demand.  There was a reduction in world ending stocks.  In 
the current 2010/11 season, even though production and consumption were relatively in balance, 
significant increases in price were being registered.   
80. In addition to those fundamental factors, there we re three additional factors that contributed to 
the rise in prices. One was the fear of defaults.  Wh en textile mills bought cotton, they normally did so 
six to 12 months in advance.  Many textile mills  bought cotton in 2009 or early 2010 for delivery in 
2010/2011, when prices were lower.  As cotton prices increased, many textile mills feared that they 
would not receive the cotton they had contracted.  They felt compelled to buy the same cotton twice, at a higher price.  That market behaviour led to  a doubling in the demand for cotton and the rise in 
prices.  The second factor was that a number of export ers, in order to cushion the impacts of the rise 
of prices on their domestic textile industries, withhold cotton from the world market by banning 
exports.  That resulted in uneve n shortages across the world mark et, forcing textile mills and 
importing countries to pay higher prices for the cotton available on the global market.  The third factor related to countries that maintained state reserves or national buffer stocks for their cotton 
industries.  Participants in the world cotton ma rket were not sure if those governments would 
intervene in the world market to buy cotton at the prevalent high prices to maintain their state reserves 
so as to buffer their domestic industries.   
81. In sum, the fear of default, uncertainty about  the availability of exports as a consequence of 
export restrictions, and the uncertainty of th e strength of import demand contributed to, and 
compounded, a tight situation with stocks to push already high prices to record high levels.   
82. A number of factors were expected to alleviate that situation.  Prices could not stay as high as 
they were.  The first factor would be the cotton ha rvest in the Southern Hemisphere beginning March 
2011.  That cotton was planted in October and Nove mber 2010.  Harvest would be in March, April 
and May of 2011.  Ginning would occur at that ti me.  Harvest in the Sout hern Hemisphere would 
enter the market to relieve the supply shortage.  Because of the high prices, producers in the Southern 
Hemisphere had responded.  Productio n was expected to climb from 2 million tons to more than 3 
million tons.  The Southern Hemisphere normally ac counted for about 9 per cent of the world cotton 
supply.  That year the Southern Hemisphere was e xpected to account for 13 pe r cent.  In addition to  TN/AG/SCC/W/14 
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  the Southern Hemisphere harvest in 2011, there would be the harvest from the rest of the world in late 
2011.  So, for the 2011/12 season, pr oduction was expected to exceed consumption by approximately 
2 million tons.  That production increase would be the result of the current high prices; leading to increased cotton area and production in the following season.  Furthermore, with the continued 
recovery in the world economy and continued grow th in consumption, ICAC estimated that the 
tightness in supply would be alleviated. The result should be softened demand and the alleviation of 
current high prices.   
83. In the late 70's and early 80's and in the mid 90's, the average price of cotton had been about 
US¢90 per pound of cotton lint.  Each time that average price exceeded US¢90 per pound of cotton 
lint, it had fallen the following season.  In the curre nt year, ICAC estimated that the season average 
would turn out to between US¢90 per pound of cotton lint with a point estimate at about US¢98.  It had to be admitted that current prices were well ab ove current forecast.  The current price was about 
US$1.20.  However, ICAC estimated that over the course of the entire season, the average would be between US¢90 and US$1.10.  ICAC estimated and e xpected that, based on the pattern of plantings in 
the Southern Hemisphere, the expectation of plantin g in the Northern Hemisphere and the pattern of 
past seasons, prices would likely moderate in the 201 1/12 season.  Prices were not expected to revert 
to US¢50 or US¢60 per pound of cotton lint, as was the case in the 2000's.  That price situation in the 
decade of the 2000's was an unusual experience caused  by record yields linked to the adoption of 
biotechnology in global agriculture.  Most ma jor producing countries had already adopted 
biotechnology.  The gains and high yields of biotechnology had already been reflected into the global 
cotton farming system.  The long-term average of the Cotlook A Index was approximately US¢74 per 
pound of cotton lint.  ICAC expected that over th e decade of 2010, the Cotlook A Index would revert 
to that average rather than fa lling back to the US¢50 - US¢60 ra nge, as had been the case in the 
decade of the 2000's.   
84. World cotton trade was increasing.  The record  level of trade was in the 2005/06 season when 
world exports and imports had attained 9 million to ns, of which China accounted for 4 million tons.  
During the recession, trade had fallen below 7 million t ons.  Last season, trade had increased to about 
8 million tons and in the current season, trade ha d slightly increased by about 8.5 million tons, of 
which China was expected to account for 3 million, w ith all other exporters taken together accounting 
for a little over 5 million tons.  Trade was expanding.  Prices were high.  While prices would soften in 
the future, it was likely that they would remain much higher than in the past decade.  Strong 
opportunities existed for economic development a nd employment in the world cotton sector.   
85. ICAC wanted to make governments aware of cer tain improvements in the efficiency of the 
world cotton market.  One initiative being undert aken by ICAC was to harmonize phytosanitary 
certificates.  Around the world many countries had different requirements for the phytosanitary 
certificates for allowing imports of cotton.  Some c ountries specified the chemi cals to be used; others 
specified different intervals of time between issuance of certificates and arrival at port.  ICAC was 
working to harmonize all phytosanitary certificates, using the model phyto-certificate developed by the FAO, so as to simplify cotton trade.  Worl d cotton market was evolving towards instrument 
testing.  Instrument testing now accounted for half of world production.  Many countries were 
developing instrument testing systems.  That allo wed cotton to be tested objectively rather than 
subjectively by hand.  Instrument testing had certain ly improved the efficiency of world trade.  Trade 
rules were also being harmonized around the world, such as the number of days allowable for free 
storage, and similar terms for contract.  Harmonized trade rules for cotton trade enhanced efficiency.   
86. Finally, the representative of ICAC highlighted  that the world cotton market/world cotton 
industries were working for improved environmen tal sustainability.  Many governments were 
encouraging improvements in Integrated Pest Ma nagement (IPM) and Integrated Crop Management 
(ICM).  He noted that in the statements by  Brazil, Australia, China and India at the 14
th Round of the TN/AG/SCC/W/14 
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  DGCFMC, there had been several references to research  in the food and cotton sectors.  Much of that 
research was aimed at reducing any negative environm ental impact, lowering the cost of production, 
and improving the level of c onsumer acceptance for cotton and other natural fibres.  
87. The representative of Chinese Taipei thanked Mr. Townsend for his comprehensive and 
insightful review.  His Government commended Mr . Terry Townsend and the ICAC Secretariat for 
their hard work and contributions to the global cotton community, not only in the field of cotton-related studies and statistics, but also for their ro le as catalysts for cotton-related cooperative actions 
in the international community.   
88. His delegation was of the view that the assistance and research programmes on cotton could 
be further strengthened.  In that regard, he woul d share some information on the recent International 
Seminar in Taipei, held jointly by the ICAC a nd the Chinese Taipei Textile Federation (TTF) in 
October 2010.  The Seminar on the theme "Challenges for Sustainable Textile Industry" had focused 
on several issues of international significance, such as the environmentally r esponsible production of 
fibres and textiles, innovation, the effective use of national resources, management of the supply 
chain, and the incorporation of sustainability into a company's strategy.  Discussions and exchange of 
views among participants on those issues had been in tensive, in particular on possible solutions and 
strategies for dealing with the challenges of e nvironmental and social responsibility, from the 
perspective of the cotton society.   
89. He said that his Government considered that, in addition to continuing with the assistance and 
cooperation programmes for the cotton producers in A frica, more attention was needed to address the 
future challenges facing the cotton sector.  Having noted the value of dialogue and discussion, his 
government would continue to give its support to si milar activities in the future, in collaboration with 
the ICAC and other cotton-related organizations.  He underscored his Government's commitment to 
cooperating with the WTO Secretariat and Members,  in the context of the DGCFMC, in the vital 
work that lay ahead.  
90. The Chairman, in the absence of any other request s to intervene, inform ed Members that the 
Secretariat would distribute by e-mail the presentation by the representative of ICAC. He invited the 
14th Round of the DGCFMC to take note of the presentation by Mr. Terry Townsend, the Executive 
Director of ICAC, and all the statements made.   
91. The DGCFMC took note of the presentation by th e Executive Director of the ICAC and the 
statements made.   
E. DIRECTOR-GENERAL'S EVOLVING TABLE ON COTTON DEVELOPMENT 
ASSISTANCE 
92. The Chairman invited the 14th Round of the DGCFMC to take up Item 6:  "The Director-
General's Evolving Table on Cotton Development Assistance".   
93. He noted that the Evolving Table had emerged as the common transparency tool for tracking 
and monitoring the commitments and disbursemen ts by the development community in the 
implementation of the mandate on cotton development assistance.  It had also become the common platform for a development dialogue between the donor community and recipients of assistance for cotton sector development.  On 5 November 2010, the Director-General had circulated to Members the 10
th version of the Evolving Table, contained in  document WT/CFMC/6/Rev.9.  On the basis of 
the Director-General's letter and the updated Evol ving Table, he invited the representative of the 
Secretariat to highlight briefly the key points.    TN/AG/SCC/W/14 
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  94. The representative of the Secretariat2 thanked Members - develope d and developing - for their 
contributions that had made possible the update of th e Evolving Table.  The current version had been 
updated on the basis of inputs from Brazil, the EU a nd several of its Member states: France, Germany 
and the Netherlands, whose inputs had been received the day before and, as a consequence, had not 
been reflected in the current version of the Table,  but would be reflected in the subsequent one.  
Multilateral institutions had also contributed to the update of the ET.  Those included, the Common Fund for Commodities, the International Cotton A dvisory Committee, the FAO, the ITC and the 
World Bank.  
95. In Part I of the 10
th version, on cotton-specific development assistance, the number of 
beneficiaries had remained stable at 41; that w as a significant increase from the starting baseline of 
the C4 and Senegal.  The universe of beneficiarie s had been enlarged beyond the C4.  Between the 9th 
and 10th version, commitments had increased by 3.7 per cent (from 161 to 167).  The value of the 
commitments had increased to US$567 million from US$551 million.  Improvements had also been 
made with regard to disbursement s. The EU remained at the top in  respect of disbursement flows, 
which had increased, in Part I, by 14.9 per cent, from US$266 million in the 9th version to US$306 
million in the 10th version.   
96. The Secretariat had observed from the two prev ious versions that the main contributors 
reflected a trend of shifting assistance provided fro m cotton-specific assistance to assistance for cotton 
within the overall framework of support for agricultural and infrastructure-related.   
97. In Part II, "Agriculture and Infrastructure-Re lated Development Assistance", the number of 
beneficiaries remained relatively stable at 35.  The number of commitments had increased by 7 from 
the previous version and stood at 101.  The va lue of commitments increased from US$3.86 billion to 
US$4.24 billion.  Disbursements had also increased significantly from US$229 million in the 9th 
version to US$542 million in the 10th version.   
98. The Secretariat representative underlined sever al overall features of the ET.  First, the ET 
monitored implementation by Members of the Doha  Mandate on Cotton Development Assistance.  
Second, it was a consolidation of what Members and multilateral institutions had been contributing 
and provided for transparency.  Third, it assisted in  avoiding duplication.  In areas where duplication 
was noted, the Secretariat had privately pointed such areas out to contributors to the ET, and urged for 
diversification in areas of identified priorities by  cotton beneficiaries, such as increasing productivity 
and improved quality.  Fourth, the numbers were cumula tive.  Fifth, over a 5-year period, entries in 
the ET had been subject to commentary and verifica tion by participants at the DGCFMC.  A critical 
mass had emerged and stabilized from 2005.  Sixth, the 10th version of the ET provided evidence of 
improvements in disbursement flows, which still requi red regular monitoring.  Seventh, the problem 
of the low quality level of operational reports rema ined.  Eighth, the number of cotton focal points 
notified by LDCs' beneficiaries remained very low.   This low level of notified cotton focal points 
contributed to explaining the low levels of in teractivity between the cotton focal points and the 
providers of cotton development assistance.  Finally, the Secretariat stressed that the figures in the ET had not been analysed.  They were simply pr ogramme and project entries and their corresponding 
values that had been contributed by Member s and cooperating multilateral institutions.   
99. The Chairman expressed appreciation to th e representative of the Secretariat for his 
introduction to the 10
th Version of the ET.  He invited Members to intervene.   
100. The representative of the United States provi ded an update on its de velopment programmes 
for cotton.  He highlighted the activities by sever al of its Government Departments and Agencies, 
                                                      
2 Mr. Chiedu Osakwe, Direct or, Accessions Division.   TN/AG/SCC/W/14 
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  including the Department of Agriculture (US DA); the United States Agency for International 
Development (USAID); and, the Millennium Challe nge Corporation (MCC).  He reported on several 
activities such as the West African Cotton Improve ment Programme (WACIP), operating in the C4 
countries and Senegal.   
101. He noted that the WACIP was at the centre of  its cotton programme.  It had been announced 
in 2005 with a broad mandate to address the lack  of competitiveness in West African Cotton, as 
compared to cotton produced in other regions.  Progress was being made in supporting key national 
and regional cotton-producing groups  and other important private sector initiatives that were involved 
in the cotton value chain.  The WACIP programme had been extended.  Originally, it was due for 
completion in October 2010, but had now been exte nded to 2012.  The WACIP operated in three main 
areas of intervention to:  create momentum fo r longer-term policy and institutional changes that 
would encourage investment and value addition;  improve value addition by exploiting niche 
processing and marketing opportunities of cotton-b ased products; and, increase productivity, the 
quality of cotton lint  and farmers income from cotton and other crops in the cotton rotation.   
102. Since the 13
th Round of the DGCFMC, the WACIP programme had carried out a variety of 
activities.  A few examples were illustrative.  U nder the rubric of increasing incomes for cotton 
farmers, the National Bio-Safety Agency of Burk ina Faso had organized a bio-safety information 
workshop for government officials, farmers and th e NGO community.  USAID, in partnership with 
WACIP partners for agricultural extension activities in Mali, held an Integrated Pest Management 
(IPM) and integrated soil fertility management work shop in Bamako.  With respect to the area of 
cotton ginners, in collaboration with the Coton et Industrie du Monde  and the  Industrie Cotonnière 
Associée - Groupe d'Intérêt Economique  in Benin, USDA and WACIP conducted the second of the 
WACIP study tours.  Another study tour was held in Senegal.   
103. The Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) continued its engagement in programmes 
with partners in the C4 and Senegal.  These tota lled approximately US$2 billion over five years of 
activity that were ongoing.  The USDA also continue d its work with the C4 countries and Senegal to 
improve cotton productivity.  In 2010, it provided capacity-building for cotton producers and processors through the Food for Progress Programme and other programmes and activities that encouraged agricultural development through vocati onal training, market development and provision 
of micro credit, as well as the strengthening of farm ing organizations.  That was a short overview of 
some by the United States since the 13
th Round of the DGCFMC.   
104. The representative of the European Union (EU)  thanked the WTO Secretariat for the updated 
ET on cotton development assistance, which provi ded a useful overview of ongoing development 
assistance and therefore assisted with donor coordinati on.  As mentioned on previous occasions, the 
EU had mobilised significant levels of support for the implementation of the EU-African Cotton 
Partnership.  The current update of the Evolving  Table showed again higher levels of commitments 
and disbursements from the European Union.  The to tal level of funds managed by the EC on behalf 
of the EU now stood at €179 million, in terms of allocations, while over €121 million had been 
disbursed.  The disbursement rate represented more  than 67 per cent.  The EU remained the largest 
disburser of development assistance for cotton.  The representative of the EU noted that WTO Director-General Pascal Lamy, in his letter of 5 No vember 2010, indicated that total disbursements in 
Part I of the Table currently stood at US$306 million.  Using an exchange rate of €1 to US$1.33 this 
implied that the European Union alone accounted fo r 52 per cent of the reported assistance delivered 
to date.   
105. EU Member states, in particular France, Germany and the Netherlands, had also provided 
significant support to cotton.  As a whole, the EU had allocated over €319 million to cotton programmes and projects since 2004, of which €207 m illion had been disbursed at a rate of 65 per  TN/AG/SCC/W/14 
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  cent.  The representative of the EU reiterated that th e EU did not report for inclusion in Part II of the 
ET any assistance that was indirectly related to Cotto n, such as for roads, br idges, trade facilitation, 
port handling, and private sector development.  Th e EU also did not report for counting in the ET 
macroeconomic assistance, which was considerable in  some of the main cotton-producing countries.   
106. As in the past, the EU only reported entries for Part I of the ET.  Looking ahead in terms of 
upcoming support, the EU had already indicated in previous reporting that the EU/Africa Partnership 
on Cotton had been reviewed and evaluated.  The re viewed action framework would form the basis of 
a new support programme for cotton in Africa to be funded from the 10th European Development 
Fund (EDF) for a value of €11 million.  The specific formulation of the programme was currently 
ongoing in close consultation with the EU's African partners.   
107. The representative of Brazil provided a brief description of its programme.  Brazil's 
programme and bilateral cooperation with the C4  was progressing positively.  Brazil's goal had not 
been to transfer financial resources or to transfer a Brazilian model per se .  Rather, the goal was to 
establish a partnership with the C4 to construct a m odel that really worked for the benefit of the C4 
countries.  Brazil was drawing from its experience in Embrapa.  The results, so far, were very 
positive.  Brazil was very encouraged and intended  to extend the programme to other countries.  
Brazil was very pleased with the work of the Secret ariat and the output as reflected in the ET.   
108. The representative of the World Bank3 stressed that the World Bank remained committed to 
assisting countries, particularly those in Africa,  expand their domestic production and exports on 
cotton. It was pleased to contribute to the Evolving  Table.  That year, the Bank had added several 
projects. Those included, for example, the East  African Agricultural Productivity Programme, the 
Kenyan Agricultural Productivity and Agribus iness Project, and the Ugandan Agricultural 
Technology and Agribusiness Advisory Services project .  Each of those projects varied depending 
upon the local needs, but in general, they had pr ovided for greater collaboration in agriculture; 
training and technology dissemination; and, fac ilitation of increased transfer of agricultural 
technology, information, and knowledge across national boundaries.  The goal was to increase 
agricultural productivity and incomes of participa ting smallholder farmers by improving performance 
in agricultural technology systems, empowering st akeholders, and promoti ng the development of 
agribusiness.    
109. According to recent project evaluations, those projects were having a substantial impact.  One 
example was the Cotton Subsector Development Pr oject in Uganda, which was delivered between 
1994 and 2001.  The project had revived cotton produ ction and exports through increased competition 
in cotton processing and improving supporting services to  farmers.  As a result of those efforts, 
production had increased dramatically, state-owned gins  had been restored to credit-worthiness, and 
effective competition in cotton processing had resulted in prompt payments to farmers.  The project 
had also rehabilitated the Agricultural Research Ins titute, and farmers had successfully integrated new 
pest management technologies.   
110. As already widely known, the World Bank was preparing a comprehensive Trade Strategy.  
Preparatory consultations had highlighted the impor tance of agriculture and trade in agricultural 
products.  These would undoubtedly figure prominentl y in the final version.  The Bank would 
continue to emphasize the opportunities fo r expanded trade in agriculture.   
111. The World Bank commended the Secretariat fo r its work on the Evolving Table.   
                                                      
3 Ms. Selina Jackson, Representative of the World Bank to the WTO.   TN/AG/SCC/W/14 
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  112. The Chairman thanked the representative of the World Bank for her presentation and 
acknowledged that the presentation was very much appreciated as it was her first meeting in the 
DGCFMC as the new World Bank Representative.  He underlined the excellent contributions by her 
predecessor Mr. Richard Newfarmer, and requested  that the appreciation of the Members and 
participants of the DGCFMC be conveyed to hi m.  The DGCFMC looked forward to working very 
closely with the new representative of the World Bank.   
113. The representative of the Common Fund for Commodities (CFC) affirmed that the CFC 
remained a dedicated partner of the international co tton community.  It played that role by providing 
targeted support to cotton-producin g developing countries, and by focusing on addressing common 
problems of the cotton sectors in those countries.  The CFC worked in close collaboration with the 
International Cotton Advisory Committee (ICAC).  Th ere were joint CFC/ICAC activities, entered in 
under Part I of the Director-General's Evolving Table.   
114. Two projects had come on stream in 2010 and were now fully operational.  The first 
addressed the problem of low level smallholder prod uctivity in Eastern Africa (with a specific focus 
on Kenya and Mozambique).  The implementation of th e project had been contracted out to CABI in 
Nairobi, which worked in close collaboration with th e Kenyan Agricultural Research Institute and the 
country's Cotton Development Authority  and, with the Cotton Institute in Mozambique.  As a result, it 
was foreseen that the project would increase yields by up to 1,500 kilograms of seed cotton per hectare for about 6,000 participating farmer s through the introduction of improved cultivation 
practices.  Ultimately, increased yield genera tes increased net incomes for farmers.   
115. The second project was located in  West Africa; "Prevention of Seed Cotton Contamination in 
West Africa".  The pilot project was being implem ented by IFDC and had initial focus on the cotton 
production areas in Burkina Faso, Côte d'Ivoire and Mali.   It involved a total of about 27,000 farmers.  
It aimed to develop the conditions under which producers and ginners were able to deliver 
uncontaminated, clean seed cotton and subsequently  clean lint to the market.  It would mobilize 
market partners to pay appropriate premiums for clean cotton, thus making commercially worthwhile 
the extra efforts undertaken by producers and ginners .  In that project, activities would focus on all 
parties handling seed cotton, including production, ha rvest, storage, transportation and ginning.  To 
ensure the positive outcome and benefits from the project, links to the market would have to be 
secured, through organizations like the ITMF, nationa l and regional institutional structures, producer 
organizations like APROCA, cotton companies, re presentatives of regional organizations like the 
African Cotton Association (ACA), regulatory govern ment agencies, etc.  The International Trade 
Centre (ITC) and the World Bank would specifically address the latter issues, focusing on market linkages and the national and regiona l arrangements which were required to ensure sustainability at 
institutional level. 
116. The CFC was pleased to confirm that both projects could be developed at a scale, largely than 
initially foreseen, thanks to co-financing contribu tion from the European Union through its All ACP 
Agricultural Commodities Programme.  That progr amme also provided substantive co-financing 
contribution to the ongoing CFC/ICAC project on the Commercial Standardization of Instrument 
Testing of Cotton.  Apart from the "global" components, the project had a specific Africa-focused component which, inter alia , had resulted in the establishment of two Regional Technical Centres:  
one in Dar es Salaam (Tanzania); and, the other in Ségou, Mali.  Those Regional Centres would be 
able to provide effective quality control and certifi cation services to cotton-testing laboratories in their 
respective regions. 
117. Although the Common Fund for Commodities was c onsistently faced with more requests for 
support than it had, nevertheless it remained comm itted to the expansion of its cotton project 
portfolio.  The CFC would, therefore, continue to  work with the ICAC and relevant regional and  TN/AG/SCC/W/14 
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  national organizations for the further development of new projects addressing joint priorities in the 
field of cotton development.  The objective was fo r those projects to benefit smallholder producers 
who depended on cotton production for their livelihood.   
118. The representative of Zambia (on behalf of  the LDCs' Consultative Group) said that her 
delegation had taken note of the total number of commitments as highlighted in the Secretariat 
presentation.  On Agriculture and Infrastructure- Related Development Assistance, the LDC Group 
reiterated the importance of infrastructure develo pment in contributing to export growth.  LDCs 
recognized that under-capitalization and use of rudi mentary farming equipment had inhibited growth 
in the agriculture sector, including the cotton sector.  It was for that reason that LDCs had continued 
to direct resources to infrastructure development.  However, due to competing needs the resources 
allocated were insufficient to upgrade infrastructure to  a level that effectively facilitated private sector 
development and trade.  It was for that reason that the Group welcomed the 9.7 per cent increase in 
commitments from US$3.86 billion to US$4.24 billion and the disbursement flows which had recorded a significant increase of 13.7 per cent.  Th e LDCs reiterated the importance of the Evolving 
Table on Cotton Development Assistance.  It was a us eful tool for monitoring the direction of support 
in the cotton sector and assessing the resource gaps and identifying areas where most support could be 
directed.  
119. The representative of Burkina Faso (on behalf of the C4) made several closing remarks on 
Item 6, on behalf of the C4.  First, he tha nked the donors who had strive n and were striving to 
implement the programmes and for the support which they had given to the African cotton sector.  
Second, the C4 applauded the quality of the presentati on by the Secretariat, in particular, the summary 
which had been given.  Third, there were concerns  to be noted on issues related to operational matters 
with the projects, improving the visibility of the focal points, and their interaction with donors in countries which had already been designated for pr oject implementation.  The C4 appreciated the 
healthy and the rich exchange between providers an d beneficiaries of cotton development assistance.   
120. The Chairman concluded the discussions under Item  6 with several remarks.  He expressed 
appreciation to the entire development community fo r their continuing contributions.  He emphasized 
the necessity of sustaining implementation so as to bridge the commitment/disbursement gap.  He noted that quick calculations showed that disbur sements were at about 20 per cent compared to 
commitments, although they had gone up and more so  in that period when the Doha Round was being 
re-energized with real prospects of conclusion  in 2011.  Implementation of the development 
assistance aspects of cotton continued to be a requi red component of the two-track treatment of the 
cotton issue in the DDA.  The exchange had made ev ident the value of the continuing exercise in the 
DGCFMC, as noted by participants who had interv ened.  The relationship of the cotton development 
assistance implementation exercise to broader issues  of trade capacity building, aid for trade and 
poverty reduction was also extremely important.  Th at relationship merited continued emphasis.   
121. He signalled that the Director-General of the WTO would continue to place full spotlight on 
cotton and related issues.  Finally, he acknowledg ed that bridging gaps also involved building 
partnerships, support and pro-activity from domestic  cotton sector focal points.  The Secretariat 
looked forward to continued interac tion and progress in that regard.  
122. The 14
th Round of the DGCFMC took note of the presentations and statements made.   
F. SOUTH-SOUTH  COTTON  COOPERATION   
123. The Chairman invited Members and Participants of the DGCFMC to take up Item 7:  "South-
South Cotton Cooperation".   TN/AG/SCC/W/14 
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  124. He recalled the background to that item.  The mandate was reflected in  paragraph 12 of the 
Hong Kong Ministerial Declaration.  On 22 Novemb er 2007, a seminar had been organized by the 
Secretariat on:  "South-South Cooperation for Co tton Sector Development".  Contributions on the 
platform of South-South Cooperation were voluntary.   That was an area where strong and effective 
leadership was being provided by Brazil, China and India.  Pakistan had also designed an important 
contribution.   The International Trade Centre (ITC)  was also making important contributions in this 
area, which had been noted in previous meetings.  He  invited Members and participants to intervene.   
125. The representative of Brazil said that his presentation built on the last presentation by his 
delegation at the 13th Round of the DGCFMC.  At the outset, Br azil wanted to say that what inspired 
it to move forward with the South-South Cooperation,  was the obvious fact that two tracks were at 
play on cotton.  One track was the Doha Round negot iation.  The second was to find a way that would 
enable developing countries, with similar positions an d problems, to work together and try to explore 
ways to develop, including in the cotton sector, so as to take advantage of  the varying opportunities 
that Brazil hoped would be accomplished via the Doha Round.  Those opportunities should emerge 
from the reduction of subsidies, new market a ccess opportunities and the elimination of export 
subsidies.  The Brazilian programme with the C4  was being developed by the Brazilian Cooperation 
Agency, with the technical support of Embrapa.  Embrapa was at the hear t of Brazil's success in 
agriculture.  It had been a driving force of research  and recent developments in Brazil, particularly in 
the field of cotton but also in other areas of agricu lture, like soy, etc.  The role of Embrapa had been 
and continued to be immense and important.   
126. Brazil's programme of cooperation with the C4  had the support of the highest level of 
Government.  President Lula was the driving force with his C4 counterparts.  The main objectives of 
Brazil's programme with the C4 were to:  i) contribute to the development of the cotton sector;  ii) transfer Brazilian technology to develop solutions to challenges in the cotton sector of those countries;  
iii) increase income generation;  and, iv) contribute to addressing improving food security 
programmes through rotation of food crops, within the framework of the principal focus of developing 
the cotton sector.   
127. The expected outcomes were improvements in ge netic farming, fertilization techniques, and 
agricultural management.  The Brazilian project was also keen to have implemented a technological 
showcase unit.  That unit could serve as a starting point for cooperation, not only with the C4 countries but also with other African countries which had a special interest in cotton.  There were 
several objectives: achieving a demonstrative agri cultural model for the programme with its own 
pillars for organization.  Agricultural research would be adapted to local conditions, through a 
validation and demonstrative model unit as established in Sotuba, Mali.  The development of research 
in the field would focus, inter alia , on genetic improvements, soil nutrition and integrated pest 
management.  Those would be validated and adapted.   
128. Capacity building was another important pillar.   It reinforced the existing capacity of 
researchers, specialists and leading producers.  That was expected to have an impact in the field.  
There had been exchanges of researchers between Brazilian and C4 agricultural technicians.   
129. The fourth pillar was the development of tools for the diffusion of that knowledge.  It was 
expected from the project that there would be positiv e spill-over effects in the region for the benefit of 
all the countries in the African Region. The Brazilian project was reflected in the Evolving Table and 
implementation was satisfactory and underway.   
130. He informed Members and participants that his presentation would be circulated by the 
Secretariat, providing detailed descriptions of the activities undertaken of the Brazilian project.  The  TN/AG/SCC/W/14 
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  results, so far, had been positive.  In conclusion,  he said that more information on the operational 
implementation would be provided at the 15th Round of the DGCFMC.   
131. The Chairman expressed appreciation to Brazil.  He  underlined in particular the high value in 
the linkage between the Brazilian cotton project for the C4 and food security through crop rotation.  
The Brazilian project exhibited a best practice.  He hoped that other Members at future consultations 
would identify their own best practices  so that those could be collected  and distributed for wider use.  
He informed Members and participants that th e Brazilian presentation would be distributed.   
132. The representative of Burkina F aso informed Members and participants that the C4, had had 
the opportunity of visiting Brazil within the framewo rk of the Brazilian C4 project.  The Brazilian 
project was hugely important for the C4 and the la tter thanked Brazil for the initiative.  The C4 was 
pleased that Brazil was considering extending the proj ect beyond the C4 to other African countries.  
That was an excellent idea.  Indeed, Brazil was expl oring the extension of the project to other cultures 
beyond cotton, for example rice.  The research fa cilities that the C4 observed on Brazilian cotton 
farms were very reassuring.  The C4 hoped that they  could set up such coopera tion with other partners 
such as India, Pakistan and Bangladesh.  The valu e of the cooperation with Brazil was that it was 
concrete.     
133. The representative of Zambia (on behalf of th e LDCs' Consultative Group) thanked Brazil for 
its presentation and the insightful, multifaceted a pproach it had taken to the improvement of 
productivity of the cotton sector.  He also thanked In dia, Pakistan and China for providing leadership 
in South-South Cooperation regarding cotton.  The LDCs Group stated that the importance of the 
relationship of cotton development assistance coul d not be overemphasized and therefore called up 
other partners in the south that were in the pos ition to do so, to provide support to the sector.  The 
LDCs remained committed to ensuri ng the growth of the sector.   
134. The representative of the International Tr ade Centre (ITC) informed Members and 
participants that most of its activities were in the area of South-South Cooperation.  He provided an 
update of his Organization's activities in that area since the 13th Round of the DGCFMC.  In 
cooperation with the Centre of In ternational Cooperation Services of the Ministry of Agriculture of 
the Government of China, the ITC had organized a training programme on new varieties and technologies on cotton for 23 African countries from all regions from 1 September to 26 October 
2010.     
135. A programme in India on cotton value chains had been undertaken, from 14 to 26 November 
2010.  The ITC had organized that activity with the Mi nistry of Textiles of the Government of India.  
In the context of the programme, a visit had been undertaken to Mumbai.  There had been engagement 
with the Confederation of Indian Textile Industr y, the Cotton Association of India, the Cotton 
Corporation of India, the Cotton/Textile Export Council of India as well as the Indian Cotton Research Council.  There were thirty-five particip ants from Eastern and South Africa.  In October, 
there had been a one week capacity building even t in Turkey, in cooperation with the Eastern 
Exchange and the Agricultural and Textile Asso ciation as well as several cooperatives in Turkey 
working in the cotton sector.  The participants ha d been drawn from farmer representatives in Eastern 
and Southern Africa.  He informed Members and pa rticipants that the following week, the ITC would 
be organizing an inter-African South-South Coopera tion event in Senegal, with representatives of 
farmers, geneticists and government representatives fr om Zambia, Tanzania and Uganda.  They would 
seek to learn from Senegal on how Senegal and its cotton companies had reduced the contamination 
level in its cotton.   
136. In the future, ITC would expand its activities in the area of South-South Cooperation to 
facilitate exchange amongst African countries, particul arly from east to west.  The ITC would also be TN/AG/SCC/W/14 
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  working together with the Secretariat of the W est African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU) 
in the area of cotton and textiles - "Agenda Cotton Textiles".  It would also be organizing a visit of 20 to 30 ginning factories from Vietnam and Bangladesh to  visit Mali and Burkina Faso in January 2011.  
The objective would be to build confidence in the cotton ginned from those two C4 countries.  There 
were premium prices for clean uncontaminated cotton.   Mali and Burkina Faso would benefit.  The 
ITC was grateful to the European Commissi on for the funding of those activities.   
137. The representative Burkina Faso expressed appreciation to the de velopment partners that had 
contributed with the presentation of their activities on the platform of South-South Cooperation.  The 
C4 was in particular grateful to Brazil.  All th e reported projects and activities were very pragmatic 
and beneficial.   
138. The Chairman, in conclusion, noted that that was an item that had started from a very small 
beginning and now demonstrated richness, range a nd benefits.  Initial leadership had been provided 
by Brazil, China and India.  Paki stan, Egypt and the ITC had joined.  Wide-ranging bene fits were now 
evident.  That was a very welcome development a nd trend.  Further inform ation would be welcome 
under that standing item on the agenda.   
139. He thanked all those who had intervened unde r Item 7.  They all had made important 
contributions.  Those updates enhanced implem entation and further strengthened South-South 
Cooperation.  South-South Coopera tion constituted a critical element of development cooperation and 
it had emerged as a substantive component of th e development aspects of the DDA.  Developing 
countries were encouraged to deepen that cooperation and their voluntary contributions in that regard.  
The contributions made would be accorded due rec ognition in the periodic reports by the Director-
General on cotton to the Membership and the contri butions would be reflected in the notes of the 
meeting.  
140. The 14th Round of the DGCFMC took note of the presentations and statements made.   
G. ANY  OTHER  BUSINESS   
141. There were no items or issues raised under Item 8: Any Other Business.   
H. CONCLUDING REMARKS  
142. The Chairman made several conc luding remarks.  He said that the consultations at the 14th 
Round had been very useful.  The work of Memb ers and other invited participants to those 
consultations continued to regist er notable progress.  He reiterated the position of Director-General 
Pascal Lamy, contained in his letter to Members on 12 May 2010, in which he repeated "the 
inseparability of the provision of cotton deve lopment assistance from the actual trade policy 
negotiations that are currently taking place in the DDA ".  The Director-General stressed that that was 
why the WTO must continue to aim for a successful  conclusion of the DDA.  He noted that all the 
signals received from leaders at various Summits, including the G-20, indicated that 2011 would 
provide yet another window of opportuni ty to conclude the Doha Round.   
143. Continued work in the Director-General's C onsultative Framework Mechanism was part of 
the contributions to the overall efforts to success fully conclude the Doha Round and create a more 
positive momentum.  The Secretariat would continue to work to assist that process.  It would continue 
to monitor and report progress to Members on any new contribution, disbursement of current 
commitments and, operational status relating to  the commitments undertaken by the development 
community.  Of equal importance, based on inputs fr om the recipients of development assistance, the  TN/AG/SCC/W/14 
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  Secretariat would continue to monitor progress in the implementation of domestic cotton sector 
reforms.   
144. South-South Cooperation had emerged as a key asp ect of the implementation of the mandate 
on the development assistance aspects of cotton and work in the DGCFMC.  There was considerable 
interest in that dimension of the work of the WT O.  In part, the reason was that, following the 2008 
and 2009 global financial and economic crises, curren t analysis clearly showed that the high-income 
developing countries had become the engines of re covery and growth in the global economy.  The 
significant contributions of those countries were acknowledged with appreciation.   
145. As Members had noted, the development assistance aspects of cotton was on the provisional 
agenda for the 14-15 December 2010  General Council, under item 4.  Under that item, as had been the 
case since the 2005 Hong Kong Ministerial Declarati on, the Director-General would make a short 
statement, reporting on Members' work on cotton in 2010.  The short statement by the Director-General would update his report from the one he ha d submitted to Members in December 2009.  In 
doing so, the Director-General's report would refer to the Secretariat Progress Reports to Members in 
the Sub-Committee on Cotton; the updated versi on of Evolving Table on Cotton Development 
Assistance; and, the substance of the Rounds of  the Director-General's Consultative Framework 
Mechanism on Cotton.   
146. Regarding the next meeting, the Ch airman suggested to convene the 15
th Round of the 
DGCFMC in the first half of 2011.  The Secretariat w ould consult with regard to the specific dates.  
The Chairman thanked all Members and pa rticipants for their contributions.  
147. The 14th Round of the DGCFMC adjourned.    TN/AG/SCC/W/14 
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  DIRECTOR-GENERAL'S CONSULTATIVE FRAMEWORK MECHANISM ON COTTON 
 
14
TH ROUND OF CONSULTATIONS ON COTTON DEVELOPMENT ASSISTANCE 
 
9 December 2010 (9.00 a.m.) 
 
PROVISIONAL AGENDA  
  
1. Introductory Remarks - Chairman
4 
2. Statement by C4 Coordinator - H.E. Mr. Léon ce Koné, Minister for Commerce, Enterprise 
Promotion and Handicrafts, Burkina Faso  
3. Trade Policy Aspects:  
- Briefing by Chairman CoA Special Session/Chairman SCC 
- Exchange of Views 
4. Domestic Cotton Sector and Other Reforms/National Cotton Focal Points: 
- Update by Cotton Proponents 
- Exchange of Views 
5. Cotton Production and Trade Trends: 
- Presentation by the International Cotton Advisory Committee (ICAC) 
- Exchange of Views 
6. Director-General's Evolving Table on Cott on Development Assistance - Updated Table 
(WT/CFMC/6/Rev.9) 
- Secretariat Remarks 
- Updates by the Development Community 
7. South-South Cotton Cooperation 
- Update by South-South partners  
8. Any Other Business 
__________  
                                                      
4 DDG H.V. Singh is chairperson pro tem  for the Dir ector-General.