African cotton growers confront US officials at

WTO HONG KONG – African cotton producers assailed senior United States trade officials at a news conference on Friday, demanding to know why they had still not dismantled huge subsidies which they say are wrecking their economies.

“This misery we are living is because the world (cotton) price is dropping down and down…and the main effect is from the subsidies,” said Ibrahim Malloum, president of the African Cotton Association. “Cotton is everything for us.We have nothing else in the world market,” he told top United States negotiators.Top trade officials from 150 countries have converged on Hong Kong to try to make progress in plans for a global pact to lower trade barriers around the world.But with Washington and Brussels at loggerheads over how to slash rich countries’ farm tariffs little progress has been made and side-issues such as cotton have been thrust into the spotlight.Cotton has been a big issue since a WTO meeting in Cancun, Mexico, collapsed in 2003.Many present there say the bitter breakdown stemmed partly from Washington’s rejection of demands by Burkina Faso, Benin, Mali and Chad, the so called C4 countries, that the world’s poorest cotton exporters be compensated for the impact of US subsidies The United States is the world’s biggest exporter of cotton.Its cotton producers received about $4.2 billion in federal subsidies during 2004-05 – more than the entire gross domestic product of Burkina Faso.Rows of brightly-dressed African cotton producers applauded their members’ comments and complained loudly about the absence of translators.As lines of journalists gathered behind them to take a turn at asking questions of the US delegation, senior industry officials asked officials on the podium repeatedly why the subsidies remained.”We came here to convince the United States to engage in the Doha round,” said Francois Traore, president of the African Cotton Producers Association.”We don’t want a consensus here that doesn’t respect our needs.”One senior US official told the cotton producers that their needs would be best served by broader proposals put forward by US trade chief Rob Portman.He has said the US will slash domestic and export subsidies and eventually phase them out if the EU will make deep cuts in its import tariffs.”The principle impediment to moving the Doha round forward is the inability to reach agreement on agricultural market access.We are doing everything we can to liberalise agricultural trade,” the official said.”The cotton trade in sub-Saharan Africa …we’re talking about fewer than seven percent of Africa’s farmers…ninety-three per cent are going to be waiting for liberalisation of other sectors – cocoa, coffee, tea,” he added.”We can’t allow this round to degenerate into…sector-specific negotiations.”Up to 18 million people are involved in the cotton sector across West Africa, compared to about 500 000 people in the United States, says aid agency Oxfam The US official said the African cotton producers’ comments belied tentative advances that were being made in private with government representatives.”We have been engaged with pretty intensive discussions with C4 countries this week.We started out with positions substantially far apart …I think we’ve moved a long way.I am cautiously optimistic we will find a way forward,” he said.- Nampa -Reuters”Cotton is everything for us.We have nothing else in the world market,” he told top United States negotiators.Top trade officials from 150 countries have converged on Hong Kong to try to make progress in plans for a global pact to lower trade barriers around the world.But with Washington and Brussels at loggerheads over how to slash rich countries’ farm tariffs little progress has been made and side-issues such as cotton have been thrust into the spotlight.Cotton has been a big issue since a WTO meeting in Cancun, Mexico, collapsed in 2003.Many present there say the bitter breakdown stemmed partly from Washington’s rejection of demands by Burkina Faso, Benin, Mali and Chad, the so called C4 countries, that the world’s poorest cotton exporters be compensated for the impact of US subsidies The United States is the world’s biggest exporter of cotton.Its cotton producers received about $4.2 billion in federal subsidies during 2004-05 – more than the entire gross domestic product of Burkina Faso.Rows of brightly-dressed African cotton producers applauded their members’ comments and complained loudly about the absence of translators.As lines of journalists gathered behind them to take a turn at asking questions of the US delegation, senior industry officials asked officials on the podium repeatedly why the subsidies remained.”We came here to convince the United States to engage in the Doha round,” said Francois Traore, president of the African Cotton Producers Association.”We don’t want a consensus here that doesn’t respect our needs.”One senior US official told the cotton producers that their needs would be best served by broader proposals put forward by US trade chief Rob Portman.He has said the US will slash domestic and export subsidies and eventually phase them out if the EU will make deep cuts in its import tariffs.”The principle impediment to moving the Doha round forward is the inability to reach agreement on agricultural market access.We are doing everything we can to liberalise agricultural trade,” the official said.”The cotton trade in sub-Saharan Africa …we’re talking about fewer than seven percent of Africa’s farmers…ninety-three per cent are going to be waiting for liberalisation of other sectors – cocoa, coffee, tea,” he added.”We can’t allow this round to degenerate into…sector-specific negotiations.”Up to 18 million people are involved in the cotton sector across West Africa, compared to about 500 000 people in the United States, says aid agency Oxfam The US official said the African cotton producers’ comments belied tentative advances that were being made in private with government representatives.”We have been engaged with pretty intensive discussions with C4 countries this week.We started out with positions substantially far apart …I think we’ve moved a long way.I am cautiously optimistic we will find a way forward,” he said.- Nampa -Reuters