COTTON
Background paper by the Secretariat[1]
Revision
1.
The Ministerial
Decision on Cotton of 7 December 2013 (document WT/MIN(13)/41
and WT/L/916) adopted by Ministers at the 9th WTO Ministerial Conference
in Bali states, inter alia
that:
"5. In this context, we
therefore undertake to enhance transparency and monitoring in relation to the
trade-related aspects of cotton. To this end, we agree to hold a dedicated
discussion on a bi-annual basis in the context of the Committee on Agriculture
in Special Session to examine relevant trade-related developments across the
three pillars of Market Access, Domestic Support and Export Competition in
relation to cotton.
6. The dedicated discussions
shall be undertaken on the basis of factual information and data compiled by
the WTO Secretariat from Members' notifications, complemented, as appropriate,
by relevant information provided by Members to the WTO Secretariat.
7. The dedicated discussions shall in
particular consider all forms of export subsidies for cotton and all export
measures with equivalent effect, domestic support for cotton and tariff
measures and non-tariff measures applied to cotton exports from LDCs in markets
of interest to them."
2.
As a result, four
dedicated discussions on cotton were held in 2014 and 2015[2].
3. The Ministerial Decision on Cotton of 19 December 2015 (document
WT/MIN(15)/46 and WT/L/981) adopted by Ministers at the 10th WTO
Ministerial Conference in Nairobi states, inter alia
that:
"14. We undertake to
continue holding Dedicated Discussions on cotton on a bi-annual basis, as
indicated in paragraphs 5, 6 and 7 of the Bali Ministerial Decision on Cotton
(WT/MIN(13)/41 and WT/L/916), including in particular to examine relevant
trade-related developments across the three pillars of Market Access, Domestic
Support, and Export Competition in relation to cotton.
15. We undertake to regularly
monitor the implementation by Members of paragraphs 2 to 4 during these Dedicated
Discussions on cotton, based on relevant Members'
notifications to the WTO, complemented as necessary by Members' replies to
specific requests for information from the WTO Secretariat."
[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. It has been prepared for information only
and is not intended to provide any authoritative or official legal interpretation
of the provisions of the WTO Agreements in general on in relation to any
measure listed in this document.
[2] June 2014, November 2014, July 2015 and November 2015.