Brussels, 06/11/2013 (Agence Europe) - The sub-Saharan cotton-producing countries (Benin, Burkina Faso, Mali and Chad) are looking for a result at the Bali conference on the reduction of subsidies to the sector.
At the end of October, the group of cotton-producing countries, known as the Cotton Four, tabled a proposal to cut subsidies and obstacles to trade for the least-developed countries. The Cotton Four want a text to be agreed at the ministerial conference of the WTO to be held in Bali from 3 to 6 December, following their proposal. Special treatment for the cotton-producing countries was agreed when the Doha Round was launched in 2001 and was set in stone at the Hong Kong conference of 2005.
If it is dealt with in time, a chapter on cotton will be added to the agricultural elements (public storage and food aid, export competition, management of tariff quotas) which the member states have linked to a partial agreement, including an agreement on trade facilitation (which is largely based on the relaxation of customs procedures in order to facilitate trade flows) and issues related to special and differentiated treatment for the developing countries and the needs of the LDCs (see EUROPE 10955). (EH/transl.fl)