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
Report of the 25th Round of the
Director-General's
Consultative Framework Mechanism on Cotton[1]
1 July 2016
1 INTRODUCTION
1.1 The 25th Round of the Director-General's Consultative
Framework Mechanism on Cotton (DGCFMC) took place on 1 July 2016, under the
chairmanship of Deputy Director-General David Shark.
STATEMENT BY THE C4 COORDINATOR
1.2 Ambassador Thiam Diallo (Mali), speaking
on behalf of the C4 countries and all other cotton-producing countries from ACP,
Africa and LDCs, said that the Nairobi Ministerial Decision on cotton
constituted an encouraging step forward towards reaching a fair and balanced
resolution of the cotton dossier. She reaffirmed the C4's commitment to the
multilateral trading system and its potential to enhance the integration of
African countries into the global value chains. She underscored that trade was
the best development driver in the fight against poverty and an important tool
in reaching inclusive growth in Africa.
1.3 She noted with satisfaction the continued mobilisation of donors as
reflected in the last version of the Evolving Table on Cotton Development
Assistance. She underlined that, despite some shortcomings due to insufficient
rain in certain regions, cotton production in the C4 countries had been steady
in 2016. However, she expressed concern with the continued downward trend of international
cotton prices.
1.4 She thanked China for its financial support which had made possible
the participation of the C4 focal points in the DGCFMC, and encouraged all
interested parties, including developed and developing country Members, to
nominate their focal points so as to expand the information exchange and build synergies
on the cotton issue through the Consultative Framework Mechanism.
1.5 The Ambassador of Benin, speaking on behalf of the LDC Group,
underlined the vital importance of the cotton sector in African
cotton-producing countries. He brought to the attention of participants that
several LDCs would be soon submitting to the Secretariat certain regional
projects on cotton for which they would be seeking support.
1.6 The representative of Côte d'Ivoire highlighted that his
country had become the third largest cotton producer in Sub-Saharan Africa. The
Consultative Framework Mechanism had been useful to foster support for its
cotton sector. In that regard, he thanked developing and developed country
Members in particular the EU, France, the Islamic Development Bank and the
World Bank for providing such financial and technical assistance.
1.7 The representative of Pakistan stated that the cotton economy
was fundamentally important for his country. He pointed out that Pakistan had
become the fourth largest world cotton producer and had the third largest
spinning capacity in Asia. He underscored that 40% of the industrial labour in
the country was linked to cotton and 1.5 million farmer families depended
directly on cotton for their livelihood. Cotton growers in his country were
facing major challenges. Over the last three years, cotton production had slipped
by 34%, not only due to extreme weather conditions, but also because of
subsidies given by certain countries. He thanked the EU for its support which
had helped to mitigate those adverse consequences.
[1] This document has been prepared under the Secretariat's own
responsibility and is without prejudice to the positions of Members or to their
rights and obligations under the WTO.