WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  WT/CFMC/W/33 
22 May 2008 
 
 (08-2625) 
 Original:   French 
  
 
 
DIRECTOR-GENERAL'S CONSULTATIVE FRAMEWORK 
MECHANISM ON COTTON 
 
Cotton Projects
1 
 
Communication from Benin 
  
 The following communication, dated 20 November 2007, is being circulated at the request of 
the delegation of Benin. 
 
_______________ 
 
 
ASSOCIATION INTERPROFESSIONNELLE DU COTON 
(INTERPROFESSIONAL COTTON ASSOCIATION) 
 
SUPPORT FOR IMPROVEMENT OF THE QUALITY 
OF COTTON FIBRE IN BENIN 
  
I. INTRODUCTION 
1. Cotton plays, and will continue to play, a strate gic role in Benin's economy owing to its share 
in exports of domestic origin, the income that it provides to hundreds of thousands of rural and urban 
inhabitants, and its role as a catalyst in the modern ization of farming techniques.  On the whole, the 
cotton produced in Benin is of good quality, but th e actors involved have tr ouble meeting the required 
standards, and this tends to minimize value added. 
II. JUSTIFICATION 
2. While the quality of the cotton produced is fair ly good, it could be improved.  Quality, which 
is essential to success on world markets, has been id entified as a means of improving the profitability 
and sustainability of the cotton sector.  The equi pment available for cotton and fibre research, 
packaging and control of seed cotton, classification of  cotton fibre, and plant protection is insufficient 
and inadequate to perform the necessary anal yses upstream and downstream of the seed cotton 
production process.  This situation needs to be correct ed if there is to be any lasting improvement in 
the quality of the fibre produced. 
                                                     
 
1 This project had previously been distributed under the symbol JOB(07)/185. WT/CFMC/W/33 
Page 2  
 
  III. OBJECTIVES 
3. This project aims to procure equipment and build up the capacity of the technical structures 
responsible for pre- and po st-production quality control. 
4. More specifically, this will involve: 
• Providing the plant protection service laboratory with the equipment needed to 
control the quality of inputs (fertilizers and phytosanitary treatment products); 
• providing the classification service with a co mplete modern classification equipment 
chain that is in keeping with international standards and measures; 
• equipping cotton and fibre research with  a high-performance mini-ginning machine 
and an efficient technological analysis laboratory; 
• supplying the quality control and packag ing services with the necessary equipment; 
• training the relevant personnel in the e fficient use of the above equipment. 
 
IV. DESCRIPTION 
• Carry out a survey of all quality criteria relating to fibre produced and exported by 
Benin; 
• identify needs and provide the technical services involved with adequate equipment; 
• draw up and implement a training scheme for the technical staff of the services 
concerned; 
• carry out the necessary experiments; 
• conduct sampling and analysis of representa tive domestically produced fibre batches 
and organize the experiments necessary to  determine the causes of the current 
situation. 
 V. EXPECTED RESULTS 
• Operational analysis laboratories to mon itor fibre quality at different levels; 
• trained technical staff; 
• better quality and improved marketing of fibre; 
• enhanced analytical capacity in order to be able to guarantee the quality label for fibre 
produced in Benin. 
  WT/CFMC/W/33 
 Page 3 
 
 
  VI. COST:  CFAF 4 billion. 
 
No. Description Cost (CFAF million) 
  Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Total 
1 State of play and needs 
assessment  30  0  0  30 
2 Purchase of vehicles (4)  60  0  0  60 
3 Laboratory equipment for 
the Plant Protection Service of the Department of 
Agriculture and contribution 
to operation  1200  10  10  1220 
5 Research laboratory 
equipment and contribution 
to operation  800  50  50  820 
 Purchase of the mini-ginning 
machine  1200  0  0  1200 
 Supply of an HVI chain for 
the fibre classification unit 
and contribution to operation  1100  50  50  1200 
 Supply of adequate 
equipment for the quality control and packaging 
services and contribution to 
operation  500  50  50  
6 Training  50  50  50  150 
7 International expertise 
(3 persons / month / year)  50  50  50  150 
10 Study trip  10  10  10  30 
12 Follow-up and internal and 
external evaluation  50  50  50  150 
14 General operation and 
coordination  100  100  100  300 
 Total  3860  410  410  4000 
 
 VII. DURATION:  three years. 
 WT/CFMC/W/33 
Page 4  
 
  VIII.  LOCATION:  Benin. 
IX. PROSPECTIVE IMPLEMENTING PARTNERS 
• The Interprofessional Cotton Association (A IC) will be responsible for ensuring 
coordination and the effective partic ipation of the actors concerned; 
• the Institut National des Rech erches Agricoles du Bénin  (Benin National Institute for 
Agricultural Research) through the Centre de Recherche Agricole Coton et Fibres  
(Cotton and Fibre Agricultural Research Centre – CRA-CF);  
• the National Company for Agricultural Pr omotion (SONAPRA), through its cotton 
fibre classification unit;  
• the Department of Agriculture, th rough its Plant Protection Service;  
• the Department of Quality and Packaging Promotion.  
 
 
__________