. /.  WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  WT/MIN(05)/ST/40 
15 December 2005 
 (05-6011) 
MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE 
Sixth Session Hong Kong, 13 - 18 December 2005 Original:   French 
 
  
CHAD 
 
Statement by HE Mrs Odjimbeye Soukate Ngarmbatina
 
Minister of Commerce and Handicrafts  
  
 On behalf of my delegation, I should like to  thank you, Mr Chair, for the capable way in 
which you are conducting the work of this Conference. 
 
 I should also like to express my gratitude to  the Director-General of the World Trade 
Organization, the Chair of the General Council and the WTO Secretariat for the excellent organization 
of this Meeting.   I should like to take the opportunity, on behalf of my country, to thank the Government of the 
People's Republic of China and the authorities of Hong Kong for the warm hospitality we have 
enjoyed since our arrival in this wonderful city.   My country, Chad, has great expectations of this Conference, which should in principle give 
renewed impetus to the Doha round negotiations. 
 
 The Hong Kong Conference gives us the opportuni ty to undertake an in-depth reassessment 
of the major challenges facing our countries in order to find appropriate solutions.   Developing countries, but especially LDCs, fi nd it extremely difficult to gain access to 
markets in industrialized countries because of many obstacles (customs duties, administrative taxes, 
subsidies …).  Our economies depend on exports of ra w materials, which are highly sensitive to price 
fluctuations on the international market.  There ar e many reasons for these fluctuations, which have a 
drastic impact on our countries' development:  the example of cotton is a perfect illustration of this. 
  Contrary to certain ideas expressed, we rea ffirm that African cotton is competitive: 
 
 - it is rain-fed, produced by thousands of cotton growers who do not receive any 
subsidies; 
  - it is of excellent quality and its producti on cost is far lower than that of cotton 
produced in industrialized countries. 
  Despite this obvious comparative advantage, A frica's cotton subsector is today at risk because 
it is the victim of unfair competition.   The massive subsidies given to their farmers by  industrialized countries lead to a surplus in 
cotton production, which tends to become stru ctural and thus causes cotton prices on the global 
market to fall steadily.  During the 2004/2005 season alone, West and Central African countries WT/MIN(05)/ST/40 
Page 2  
 
 recorded a loss of over US$400 million.  This figure is way above the amount of government aid 
granted to the countries concerned over the same period.   You will easily understand our de termination to strive for an acceptable solution to this vital 
issue here in Hong Kong.  Cotton is my country's  chief export and over three million people in Chad 
derive the essential part of their income from cotton.   This is why, for us, the WTO = Cotton.  We 
insist that our discussions take this into account.  Accordingly, we shall shortly hand over to you a petition signed by 30,000 Chadians of all categorie s calling on industrialized countries to halt their 
subsidies in order to save African cotton.  
 Although we attach extreme importance to the trade component of the cotton issue, we do not 
disregard its development aspect, in accordan ce with the WTO General Council's Framework 
Agreement of July 2005.  The development component will boost the competitiveness of our 
subsectors and reduce government spending in  our States by assuming responsibility for 
disseminating information, providing support, main taining cotton routes and carrying out agronomic 
research … 
  My country welcomes the consensus that em erged yesterday when item 2 on cotton was 
introduced, with the vast majority of speakers e xpressing firm support for the validity of the cotton 
dossier and calling with determination fo r an end to subsidies here and now. 
 
 Chad, as a cosponsor of the sectoral initiativ e on cotton, reaffirms its support for the initiative 
and emphasizes that the issue concerns all African cotton-producing countries. 
  It is important to remember that this initiative has met with broad support from the 
international community, in particular the gr oups of LDCs, the G90, the G20 and the ACP … 
 
 Although a solution to the cotton issue is the pr iority for my country, we do not lose sight of 
the importance of other issues such as market access , intellectual property, and questions relating to 
the implementation of dispute settlement.   We are condemned to find solutions to the crucial problems on the negotiating table.  The 
credibility of our Organization will depend on our ability to find fair and equitable solutions. 
  I wish our work every success.  
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