. /.  WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  TN/AG/SCC/GEN/1 
7 April 2005 
 
 (05-1452) 
Sub-Committee on Cotton Original:  French 
  
 
OUAGADOUGOU DECLARATION ON THE COTTON SITUATION SINCE THE 
ADOPTION OF THE JULY 2004 PACKAGE 
 
Communication from Burkina Faso
 
 
 
 The following communication, dated 21 March 2005, is being circulated among Members and 
observers, for information purposes, at the re quest of the delegation of Burkina Faso. 
 
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 1. We, the Ministers for Trade and Agriculture  of Benin, Burkina Faso, Mali and Chad, in 
attendance at the third annual meeting of the African Cotton Association (ACA), held in 
Ouagadougou from 10-12 March 2005, have examined the state of the cotton sector and reviewed the 
progress made in the negotiations on the sectoral in itiative in favour of cotton since the adoption by 
the WTO General Council of the Ju ly 2004 framework agreement. 
 2. Two years after the submission of the proposal, it is clear that despite the chosen strategy 
favouring dialogue with the industrialized countries  responsible for granting massive subsidies in 
support of their cotton sectors, and the flexibility of the proponent countries and their allies who 
accepted, in a spirit of compromise, that the is sue be examined within the framework of the 
negotiations on agriculture, nothing has changed for African cotton producers . 
 3. Instead, we are faced with a proliferati on of conferences on "development aspects", none of 
which have yet yielded any concrete results, excep t for the one organized by the European Union 
within the framework of its partnership with African cotton-producing and -exporting countries.  
These conferences seem to steer the attention of  the African cotton-producing countries away from 
their real concerns by addressing issues such as competitiveness and research, when in fact the 
reforms undertaken by these countries have made the cotton sector one of the most competitive in the 
world, with the lowest production costs and fibre of an undisputed quality.  
4. While these conferences provide diagnoses and de vise strategies and action plans, millions of 
African cotton producers continue to wait, in extrem e poverty and with less than one dollar a day, for 
concrete action in their favour.  5. As regards the state of negotiations within  the WTO, we welcome the creation of the Sub-
Committee on Cotton and its clear ma ndate to examine "all trade-distorting policies affecting the 
sector in all three pillars" and to "report peri odically to the Special Session of the Committee on 
Agriculture" (WT/L/579).  6. The recent condemnation of US subsidies wh ich violate WTO commitments has confirmed, 
as if any confirmation were necessary, the legitim acy and validity of our fight against subsidies. 
 TN/AG/SCC/GEN/1 
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 7. However, we have observed attempts to drain the Cotton Sub-Committee of substance by 
denying it its capacity to negotiate.  8. Deeply concerned by the worsening situati on of cotton producers and, above all, by the 
growing threat of demise facing the African cotton s ector, we reaffirm our determination to maintain 
our chosen strategy in favour of  dialogue and multilateral negotiati on, and demand results consistent 
with the July mandate, namely that the issue be addressed ambitiously, expeditiously and specifically 
under the three pillars of market access, domestic support and ex port subsidies. 
 9. This firm stance in favour of dialogue should not be interpreted as a weakening of the resolve 
of the sectoral initiative's signatory countries, whic h benefit from the support of the African Union, 
the LDCs, the ACP countries and the G-90.  We re affirm here our spirit of solidarity and our 
determination to work together, with  resolve and perseverance, in sear ching for solutions to the crisis 
within the African cotton sector.  We also reaffirm  our determination to achieve an outcome which 
takes the following into account: 
 
 - the urgency of finding a solution to the crisis in the African cotton sector; 
  - the setting of a deadline for the reductio n and total elimination of subsidies; 
  - the pressing need to set up a rescue fund to support cotton producers and so prevent 
the demise of the cotton sector, which would trigger a human catastrophe of 
unprecedented proportions for the millions of people whose livelihoods depend on the 
sector; 
  - the ambitious, expeditious and specific handling of the cotton issue. 
 
10. Moreover, we reaffirm our commitment to continuing the reforms undertaken to further 
strengthen the competitiveness of the cotton sector.  11. We wish to pursue the negotiating strategy that has been implemented up to now and hope 
that nothing will impede the recommended mechanisms.  
 
12. We reaffirm our determination to work in su ch a way as to ensure that the resolution of the 
cotton issue is one of the successes of the Hong Ko ng Ministerial Conference.  Only then can the 
present round of negotiations truly be described as a "development round".  Inertia or the blocking of 
the cotton issue by the developed countries would be  a bad omen and entail serious consequences for 
Hong Kong – something we could not be held responsible for.  
  
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