GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – Almost 20 years ago, four small cotton growing countries formed the “Cotton 4” in an effort to make sure their voice was heard in global trade circles. Last week, the nations of Benin, Burkina Faso, Chad and Mali met with other World Trade Organization members to discuss trade-related aspects of cotton.
From those meetings, members outlined a Declaration on Support for Cotton By-Products Development in Least Developed Countries (LDCs) as well as the next steps for a ‘Joint Initiative’ on byroducts through the WTO, International Trade Centre (ITC) and the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).
Cotton has been a key sticking point in WTO agriculture negotiations and an important development-related issue since it was raised back in 2003. Today, producers in these small countries are trying to find a profitable path forward as many of their export markets have been lost to producers in larger countries. The international trading community highlights the advances in improving conditions for these smaller countries during an annual Cotton Day during the fall.
(SOURCE: All Ag News)