. /.  WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  RESTRICTED 
TN/AG/GEN/32 
TN/AG/SCC/GEN/11 
8 November 2011 
 
 (11-5692) 
Committee on Agriculture Special Session Sub-Committee on Cotton Original:   English/ 
 French 
 
 
 
WTO NEGOTIATIONS ON AGRICULTURE 
 
Communication from the Co-Sponsors of the 
Sectoral Initiative in Favour of Cotton1 
 
 
 The following communication, dated 2 November 2011, is being circulated at the request of the Co-Sponsors of the Sectoral Initiative in Favour of Cotton.  
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DRAFT DECISION ON COTTON 
 
 The Ministers, 
  Mindful of the vital importance of cotton to  the economies of several African countries in 
general and those of the Least De veloped Countries in particular; 
 
 Concerned at the adverse consequences of the domestic support measures and export 
subsidies in favour of cotton for the economies of th e developing countries, and particularly those of 
the Least Developed Countries (LDCs), affected by these measures, and for the social conditions of 
populations in the rural cotton-produc ing communities in those countries; 
 
 Stressing  more than ever the urgency of settling the problems faced by the countries 
belonging to the Group of Least Developed Countries (LDCs) as a result of the domestic support measures and the subsidies granted to cotton;   Referring  to the 2005 Hong Kong Ministerial Declar ation, and especially paragraphs 11 and 
12 thereof relating to cotton; 
 
 Concerned  at the lack of progress on this issue in the multilateral negotiations; 
  Decide : 
 I. WITH REGARD TO THE TRADE COMPONENT 
1. that the WTO Secretariat shall report to Members at each session of the Ministerial 
Conference on implementation by the developed c ountries of the decisions reached in Hong Kong 
relating to: 
                                                      
1 Benin, Burkina Faso, Chad and Mali. TN/AG/GEN/32 
TN/AG/SCC/GEN/11 Page 2 
 
 
  (a) the elimination by no later than 2006 of all forms of export subsidies for cotton; 
(b) the provision before 1 April 2012 of du ty-free and quota-free access for exports of 
cotton and cotton by-products originating from the LDCs; 
2. to instruct the relevant Negotiating Groups to act on the commitment undertaken in 
Hong Kong to give priority in the negotiations to reaching an outcome that will ensure that 
trade-distorting domestic subsidies for cotton prod uction are reduced more ambitiously than under 
whatever general formula is agreed and that it should be implemented over a shorter period of time 
than that generally applicable; 
3. until such time, as an interim measure and on th e basis of the standstill principle, to freeze at 
current levels domestic support that has distorting effects on the cotton market, which has reached a 
historic low due to the current world market prices for cotton; 
4. to reaffirm the mandate given by Members in the Decision adopted by the General Council on 
1 August 2004 to address cotton ambitiously, e xpeditiously and specifically and to call upon all 
stakeholders in the cotton issue to engage effectively and withou t delay in the negotiations, on the 
basis of the outcomes of the work carried out in  the Committee on Agriculture  in Special Session and 
contained in the reports of the Chair of the Agriculture negotiations. 
II. WITH REGARD TO THE "DEVELOPMENT" COMPONENT 
5. the need to take into account the necessary lin k between the development aspect of cotton and 
the Aid-for-Trade (AFT) initiative, and to create, on the basis of the priorities identified by the 
cotton-producing least developed countries, notably  the African countries, a framework conducive to 
the development of subregional or regional multid imensional and integrated programmes or projects, 
for submission to the development partners. 
III. AND LASTLY, WITH REGARD TO FOLLOW-UP 
6. to renew the mandate given to the WTO Direct or-General in Hong Kong to furnish a periodic 
report to the following ministerial session and in this regard, considering the little progress on the 
cotton issue recorded to date and in order to allow this important  matter to be followed up until its 
final settlement, to invite him to continue furnis hing, at each subsequent session, a periodic report 
addressing both the trade policy aspects of cotton an d the aspects relating to development assistance. 
 
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