WTO Ministerial Section • Volume • Number • 20th July 2005
WTO Cotton Sub-Committee: Africa Urges Action Before Hong Kong
The WTO Cotton Sub-Committee held its fifth meeting on 18 July. As during the previous meeting, African countries expressed disappointment at other Members’ lack of formal reaction to their proposal for major reforms in cotton trade (see BRIDGES Weekly, 29 June 2005, http://www.ictsd.org/weekly/05-06-29/story5.htm).
They warned that African cotton producing countries would ensure that the issue does not go overlooked at the Hong Kong Ministerial Conference in December. They also called for the upcoming text on “July approximations” of an eventual Hong Kong deal to include greater detail on the treatment of cotton than what was present in the 2004 July Package (WT/L/579, available online at http://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/dda_e/draft_text_gc_dg_31july04_e.htm). The EU responded that it had submitted a formal proposal in the overall agriculture negotiations that covers cotton, and seeks to expedite the farm trade talks in their entirety. The proposal, however, is yet to be made public.
The US also called attention to measures that it was currently undertaking to comply with the WTO ruling on its illegal subsidies to cotton producers (see BRIDGES Weekly, 6 July 2005, http://www.ictsd.org/weekly/05-07-06/story2.htm).
Upcoming meetings of the Cotton Sub-Committee are scheduled for 30 September, 28 October and 14 November 2005.
Further information on the Cotton Sub-Committee is available at http://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/agric_e/cotton_subcommittee_e.htm
ICTSD reporting.