COTTON
Background paper by the
Secretariat[1]
Revision
The main updates
captured in this revised version compared to the previous one[2]
are as follows:
·_
Section 2 – DOMESTIC SUPPORT:
o_
Updated tables
for Brazil, China, European
Union (EU), India and the United States and respective charts in Section 2.1.1.
Product‑specific AMS notified for cotton;
o_
Updated Table on Overview
of cotton product‑specific support, current total AMS and value of production
for cotton; and
o_
Updated table for
China and respective charts in
Section 2.1.2. Direct Payments in Accordance with Article 6.5.
·_ Section 3 – MARKET ACCESS:
o_ Updated Table 3.3 showing Cotton,
share of world exports (2012-2023), in percentage, for the 33 Members
identified in paragraphs 12 and 13 of this paper;
o_ In Section 3.1 Tariffs, updated individual tariff tables for the
following Members: – Australia; Bangladesh; Bahrain, Kingdom of; Brazil;
Canada; China; Colombia;
European Union; Hong Kong, China;
Iceland; Indonesia; Japan;
Korea, Republic of; Malaysia;
Mexico; Morocco; New Zealand; Switzerland; Chinese Taipei; Thailand;
United Kingdom and the United States.
_______________
1.
The Ministerial Decision on
Cotton of 7 December 2013 (document _WT/MIN(13)/41-_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.[3]
3.
The Ministerial Decision on
Cotton of 19 December 2015 (document _WT/MIN(15)/46-_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-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."
4.
The Nairobi Ministerial
Decision on Cotton also states that:
"6. The
Dedicated Discussions on Cotton referred to in paragraph 14 of this
Decision shall continue to address the following specific elements, based
on 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:
(a) identification and examination of market
access barriers, including tariff and non‑tariff barriers for the entry of
cotton produced and exported by cotton‑producing LDCs;
(b) reviews of market access improvements and
of any market access measures undertaken by Members, including the
identification of access barriers to cotton produced and exported by
cotton‑producing LDCs in markets of interest to them; and
(c) examination of possible additional measures
for progressive and predictable improvements in market access, in particular
the elimination of tariff and non‑tariff barriers to cotton produced and
exported by cotton‑producing LDCs."
5.
Since the Nairobi Ministerial
Conference, 17 Dedicated Discussions of the relevant trade‑related developments
for cotton have taken place.[4]
6.
As requested by the Nairobi Ministerial
Decision and based on the approach resulting from the Bali Ministerial Decision,
the WTO Secretariat has prepared, in advance of the 22nd Dedicated Discussion
on Cotton, a revised compilation of factual information and data available from
Members' notifications and other submissions, on Market Access, Domestic
Support and Export Competition in relation to cotton, received up to 17 October
2024.
7.
Further to Members' requests at
the second dedicated discussion, this revised background paper also includes: (i)
Members' responses to
the questionnaire on cotton policy developments circulated on 3 September 2024[5];
and (ii) relevant information on cotton markets and policies from Trade Policy Review
reports circulated up to 17 October 2024, for the 33 Members identified in
paragraphs 12 and 13 of this paper.[6]
8.
The paper is organized in three
parts, namely:
·_ Export Subsidies[7];
·_
Domestic Support;
and
·_
Market Access.
9.
The factual information and
data contained in this paper have been compiled from:
·_ Members' schedules and notifications in the Market Access (MA),
Domestic Support (DS) and Export Subsidies (ES) series under the Committee
on Agriculture;
·_
Tariff data
available in the WTO Integrated Database (IDB) and Consolidated Tariff
Schedules Database (CTS); as well as
·_
Non‑tariff measures
available in the WTO Integrated Trade Intelligence Portal (I‑TIP) Goods
Database.
10.
The specific sources of information
for each of the areas covered are described under the relevant parts of the
paper.
11.
With regards to Export Subsidies
and Domestic Support (Part one and two of the paper), factual information and
data were collected for all WTO Members with relevant commitments or who have
reported measures benefitting cotton in their relevant notifications.
12.
With regards to Market Access (Part
three of the paper), and based on previous practice, the list of markets of
interest to LDCs was established by collecting market access data for WTO Members
that are either: (i) classified as developed economies for the purpose of the
WTO Secretariat note on the "Participation of Developing Economies in
the Global Trading System"[8];
(ii) amongst the top 20 cotton importing countries in quantity for the
period 2010‑2012; or (iii) amongst the top 20 cotton importing
countries in quantity from LDCs for the period 2010‑2012.[9]
13.
As a result, market access data
are provided, in accordance with the Bali and Nairobi Ministerial Decisions on
Cotton, for the following 33 Members:[10]
Australia; Bahrain, Kingdom of; Bangladesh; Brazil; Canada; China; Colombia; Egypt;
the European Union; Hong Kong, China; Iceland; India; Indonesia; Japan; Kenya;
Korea, Republic of; Malaysia; Mauritius; Mexico; Morocco; New Zealand; Norway;
Pakistan; Peru; Russian Federation; South Africa; Switzerland; Chinese Taipei;
Thailand; Türkiye; the United Kingdom; the United States and Viet Nam.
14.
Unless otherwise indicated, the
term "cotton" in this paper refers to the products covered by the
Harmonized System nomenclature (HS) headings 52.01, 52.02 and 52.03.
15.
The Annexes to this document,
including Members' replies to the questionnaire on cotton‑related policy
developments (Annex 4) and information on cotton markets and policies from the trade policy
review mechanism (Annex 5), are contained in addendum _TN/AG/GEN/34/Rev.21/Add.1-_TN/AG/SCC/GEN/13/Rev.21/Add.1.
Information on market
access data for relevant cotton-related products is
contained in addendum _TN/AG/GEN/34/Rev.21/Add.2-_TN/AG/SCC/GEN/13/Rev.21/Add.2.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1 export
subsidies. 5
1.1 EXPORT SUBSIDY COMMITMENTS. 6
1.2 NOTIFIED EXPORT SUBSIDIES. 6
1.2.1 Notified budgetary outlays and
quantities for cotton (Table ES:1) 6
1.2.2 Notified budgetary outlays and
quantities for cotton (Supporting Table ES:2) 6
2 Domestic support. 7
2.1 PRODUCT SPECIFIC AGGREGATE MEASUREMENT
OF SUPPORT. 8
2.1.1 Product‑specific AMS notified for
cotton. 9
2.1.2 Direct Payments in Accordance with
Article 6.5. 23
3 MARKET ACCESS. 25
3.1 TARIFFS. 30
3.2 SPECIAL SAFEGUARD PROVISIONS. 43
3.2.1 Scheduled SSG provisions for Cotton. 43
3.2.2 Notified trigger prices for cotton. 43
3.2.3 Invoked price‑based SSG for cotton. 44
3.3 TARIFF RATE QUOTAS. 44
3.3.1 Tariff rate quota commitments for
cotton. 44
3.3.2 Most recent Tariff Rate Quota
administration method notified for cotton. 46
3.3.3 TRQ quantities and in‑quota imports
for cotton. 48
3.4 OTHER NON-TARIFF MEASURES. 56
TABLE
OF CHARTS
Chart 1.1: India. 7
Chart 2.1: Argentina. 15
Chart 2.2: Brazil 15
Chart 2.3: China. 16
Chart 2.4: Colombia. 16
Chart 2.5: European Union 17
Chart 2.6: India 17
Chart 2.7: Israel . 18
Chart 2.8: Kazakhstan. 18
Chart 2.9: Mexico. 19
Chart 2.10: Peru. 19
Chart 2.11: Russian
Federation. 20
Chart 2.12: South Africa. 20
Chart 2.13: Türkiye. 21
Chart 2.14: United States. 21
Chart 2.15: Viet Nam.. 22
Chart 2.16: China 24
Chart 2.17: European Union. 24
Chart 2.18: United States. 25
Chart 3.1: Total imports of
cotton from World and LDCs, 2012‑2023, value 25
Chart 3.2: Total imports of
cotton from World and LDCs, 2012‑2023, quantity 26
Chart 3.3: Number of
scheduled TRQs for cotton by Member 46
Chart 3.4: China (CHNQ010) 52
Chart 3.5: Colombia (COLQ057
and COLQ067) 52
Chart 3.6: South Africa
(ZAFQ053) 53
Chart 3.7: United States
(USAQ049) 53
Chart 3.8: United States
(USAQ050) 54
Chart 3.9: United States
(USAQ051) 54
Chart 3.10: United States
(USAQ052) 55
Chart 3.11: United States
(USAQ053) 55
Chart 3.12: United States
(USAQ054) 56
[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 or in
relation to any measure listed in this document.
[2] _TN/AG/GEN/34/Rev.20-TN/AG/SCC/GEN/13/Rev.20.
[3] June and November 2014, and July and
November 2015.
[4] July and November 2016, July and November 2017, June and November
2018, June and November 2019, July and November 2020, May and November
2021, May and November 2022, May 2023, November 2023 and May 2024.
[5] Document _ICN/AG/TN/SCC/6.
[6] This information is presented in Annexes 4 and 5.
[7] With regards to the disciplines and commitments contained in the
Ministerial Decision on Export Competition (_WT/MIN(15)/45-_WT/L/980
adopted on 19 December 2015), referred to in paragraph 9 of the
Nairobi Ministerial Decision on Cotton, Members can also refer to the
Secretariat background paper on export subsidies, export credits and export
credit guarantees or insurance programmes, international food aid, and
agricultural exporting STEs (document _G/AG/W/125/Rev.20
and its four addenda, dated 27 August 2024).
[8] Document _WT/COMTD/W/262,
Appendix 8 with the European Union counted as one and Switzerland and
Liechtenstein also counted as one.
[9] The top 20 cotton importing countries were identified using
COMTRADE data processed by the WTO Secretariat, and supplemented by data
from the International Cotton Advisory Committee (ICAC).
[10] In the absence of significant change in the list of Members when
using the period 2019‑2021, the list used in document _TN/AG/GEN/34
has been kept unchanged for the sake of comparability. The United Kingdom withdrew from the European
Union as of 1 February 2020. The European Union and the
United Kingdom have communicated that, during the transition period, which ended on
31 December 2020, Union law, with a few limited exceptions, continued to
be applicable to and in the United Kingdom. For the period until
31 December 2020, the European Union's data also covers the United
Kingdom. For the period starting on 1 January 2021, information concerning
the European Union covers its current 27 member States
and the United Kingdom is treated separately.