Press Release - 4 th Meeting of the ministerial follow-up Committee on the cotton dossier(ACP House, 5 December 2005) The Ministerial Follow-up Committee on the Cotton dossier held its 4th meeting under the chairmanship of Hon. Roger Marie Rafanomezantsoa, Minister of Industry, Trade and Private Sector Development of Madagascar, at ACP House, Brussels , on Monday 5 December 2005 . The aim of the meeting was to take stock of the state of play regarding the cotton sector in ACP countries and to update the Committee’s position in view of the upcoming 6 th Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) in Hong Kong . During their deliberations, the Ministerial Committee heard reports from the Working Group on Cotton on the 2 nd Meeting of ACP Stakeholders in the Cotton Sector, participation in the Steering and Follow-up Committee of the EU - Africa Cotton Partnership, and the treatment of the cotton dossier at the WTO. The Ministerial Committee endorsed the Working Group’s proposal to adopt the recommendations of the 2 nd Meeting of ACP Stakeholders in the Cotton Sector as specific priority elements for the implementation of the Plan of Action of the EU - Africa Cotton Partnership, and to set up a follow-up mechanism to monitor and ensure implementation of said recommendations . The Committee also examined recent developments in the treatment of the cotton dossier at the WTO and updated its strategy in view of the 6 th WTO Ministerial Conference to be held in Hong Kong . In that regard, it put forward a Declaration that is expected to be adopted by the Council of Ministers, in which the Committee promises to recall the many concessions that the ACP cotton-producing and exporting countries have made – to no avail - in the hope of achieving an amicable solution to the dossier. In the Declaration, the Committee also reiterates the very realistic nature of their most recent proposals, which have received the support of many groups of countries, including the G90, G20, the African Group …, and for which the Group is urged to reiterate its support. It is also expected that the Declaration will stress the fact that the solutions sought in the framework of the cotton initiative proposed by the four (4) proponent countries ( Benin , Burkina Faso , Mali and Chad ), will not only benefit the LDCs, but take account of the support required by all African cotton-producing countries. It should also underscore the fact that a solution to the cotton dossier at the WTO is required in order to send out a positive signal regarding the real commitment of the partners so as to ensure that the current negotiating round truly becomes a Development Round, and to contribute to the progress of negotiations in the framework of the Doha Development Agenda . List of ACP cotton-producing and exporting countries: Angola, Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central Africa Republic, Chad, Côte d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mozambique, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa, Sudan, Swaziland, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Website of the ACP cotton-producing and exporting countries: |
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