DDG Paugam underlined the difficulties facing cotton producers in Africa and elsewhere as they grapple with an array of crises, notably climate change, the COVID-19 pandemic, supply chain disruptions and the food crisis.

High food prices and the consequences of the Russia-Ukraine war have left many cotton-producing countries suffering “a double burden: their exports as a source of external income are penalized, and their imports, essential to the food security of their populations, are now traded at almost prohibitive prices,” he said.

DDG Paugam said the WTO has taken action to respond to the food crisis, which is the organization's number one priority. He highlighted the WTO's role in ensuring transparency regarding governments' trade-restrictive measures, its work on keeping markets open, and its efforts to improve market access by facilitating negotiations on new trade disciplines, including those that will affect cotton trade. 

He added: “Since the beginning of the Black Sea conflict, 31 countries have introduced 61 trade-restrictive measures on food and feed and seven measures on fertilizers. At least 15 of these measures have since been removed. In addition, 46 measures to facilitate imports of food, feed and fertilizers have been adopted by 25 countries.” He continued: “The situation remains volatile, and the WTO will continue to monitor trade measures closely.”

Stressing the importance of WTO negotiations for food security and cotton, DDG Paugam pointed to two significant  outcomes achieved at the 12th Ministerial Conference in June — a Ministerial Declaration on the emergency response to food insecurity and a historic agreement for curbing harmful subsidies on fisheries. He called on members to expedite the implementation of the outcomes.

DDG Paugam drew attention to the technical assistance and development aid that the WTO and its partners have provided to the Cotton-4 (Benin, Burkina Faso, Chad and Mali) and other cotton-producing developing members. He highlighted the WTO's recent cooperation with FIFA, which will explore opportunities to engage Cotton-4 countries in global football value chains.

DDG Paugam's full speech is available here.

On the sidelines of the event, DDG Paugam met with FAO Director-General Qu Dongyu and the Minister of Trade and Industry of the Republic of Chad, H.E. Ali Djadda Kampard, to discuss  how to deepen cooperation to fight the global food crisis, tackle environmental challenges affecting agriculture, build technical fisheries capacities, and add value with cotton producers in West Africa.

More on World Cotton Day

World Cotton Day was launched at the WTO in 2019 at the request of four WTO members (the Cotton-4: Benin, Burkina Faso, Chad and Mali). The celebration of 2022 World Cotton Day was organized by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

The high-level event on 7 October, opened by FAO Director-General Qu Dongyu, was also attended by the Minister of Trade and Industry of the Republic of Chad, H.E. Ali Djadda Kampard. Ministers of Benin, Brazil, China, Peru and representatives of the founding partner organizations of World Cotton Day — the WTO, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development,International Trade Centre and the International Cotton Advisory Committee — participated in the event.

Following the high-level event, the WTO moderated a thematic panel on the role of innovations and markets for sustainable cotton in Africa and Latin America.

The video link to both events can be found here.

More information on 2022 World Cotton Day is available here.

DDG Paugam Remarks

Thank you, Mr Director-General, Dr QU Dongyu.

His Excellency, Mr Ali Djadda Kampard, Minister of Trade and Industry (Chad),
Madam Silvana Abdo (Paraguay),
Distinguished Ministers,
Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is a great pleasure for me to celebrate this World Cotton Day with you today, the first such celebration to be held here in Rome. Director-General, your very profound and wise words on the role of cotton in human struggles, either for better, in medical treatment, or for worse, in wars, made a significant impression on me. As you know, the WTO has been involved for over 20 years in the events that have led us to this gathering today. I have a personal memory of this from Cancún in 2003, where I witnessed the first efforts undertaken by the C-4 countries and their allies to establish the issue of cotton as one of the WTO's agenda priorities.

Our world day signals the universal recognition of this today.

Meanwhile, our celebration comes at a difficult time for African cotton producers and for those from other countries, who have been hit by multiple crises in rapid succession.

The climate crisis is the most fundamental, as the alternation of extreme temperatures and extreme precipitation reduces crop yields and the quality of cotton fibres, meaning that climate change is having a major impact on the conditions for growth.

With regard to the COVID-19 crisis, a study by the WTO showed how much this crisis had affected the sector in 2020, even if cotton production and trade have since rebounded strongly.

Then, the supply chain crisis. As the focus of logistical linkages, maritime transport links and distribution channels shifted to the major trans-Pacific routes, or to between China and Europe, cotton exporters have been adversely affected by the price and scarcity of containers and vessels, as well as by the subsequent delays and storage costs.

The food crisis, already underlying with stretched agricultural prices, has been suddenly exacerbated by the war between Russia and Ukraine. Many cotton-producing countries are therefore suffering a double economic burden: their exports as a source of external income are penalized, and their imports, essential to the food security of their populations, are now traded at almost prohibitive prices. Minister, you reminded us of the figures.

Contributing to the fight against this food crisis, Ladies and Gentlemen, is today a central priority for the World Trade Organization and for our Director-General, Dr Okonjo-Iweala. How do we contribute?

Firstly, we do so by trying to ensure market transparency. We are closely monitoring the trade-restrictive measures that our Members are adopting in response to the crisis.

Since the beginning of the Black Sea conflict, 31 countries have introduced 61 trade-restrictive measures on food and feed and seven measures on fertilizers. At least 15 of these measures have since been removed. In addition, 46 measures to facilitate imports of food, feed and fertilizers have been adopted by 25 countries. The situation remains volatile, and the WTO will continue to monitor trade measures closely.

Secondly, we do so by striving to keep markets open. At our last ministerial meeting in June, our Members adopted a declaration underscoring the importance of facilitating food trade flows to tackle the crisis.

Lastly, and this is our raison d'être, we do so by seeking to make markets fairer by negotiating new trade disciplines to counter distorting subsidies, particularly those affecting trade in cotton, by improving market access conditions and by enhancing the rules contributing to food security.

We have therefore concluded a historic agreement for the elimination of subsidies for illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing. As soon as it enters into force, and here I call on all our Members to expedite its ratification, this agreement will make a key contribution to improving global food security, starting with that of the very many coastal populations.

These trade negotiations are crucial for ensuring sound structural conditions for the development of the sector.

In the cotton sector, we have an additional specific mission involving technical assistance and development aid. The WTO is working to support the efforts of the C-4 countries and their partners to upgrade production and diversify market opportunities through processed products.

Together with our sister institutions of the International Trade Centre and UNCTAD, we are therefore organizing partners' conferences aimed at mobilizing financial resources for the development of value added projects in least developed countries.

Very recently, the WTO Secretariat concluded a framework agreement with FIFA to explore opportunities for the exploitation of cotton from the C-4 countries in the supply and value addition chains for official FIFA products. This is what the dreams of millions of producers, and not just the youngest among them, are made of!

This, Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen, is what the WTO is contributing to this World Cotton Day, which, in our view, must serve as a major platform for the coordination of our efforts.

I thank FAO and our partner organizations for holding this event.  

Vive le coton! Vive la Journée mondiale du coton! Thank you.