Summary: 6 February 2008, Brussels - EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson has met today with Ministers from two African cotton producing countries to discuss the Doha Development Agenda, EU trade and development policy and the Economic Partnership Agreements that the EU is currently working on with African and Pacific countries. Mandelson met with Mamadou Sanou, Minister for Trade, Entrepreneurship and Handicrafts of Burkina Faso, and Ba Fatoumata Nene Sy, Minister for Economy, Industry and Trade of Mali.
Speaking following the meeting, Commissioner Mandelson said: "The needs and interests of developing countries are at the heart of the Doha Round. Cotton is a development priority. We have demonstrated with the Economic Partnership Agreements that it is possible to bring trade and development together. We need to achieve the same at Doha. That is why the EU has always argued for exceptional treatment for cotton in the Doha agenda."
The Commissioner also urged Mali, Benin and Burkina Faso to join negotiations for Economic Partnership Agreements with the Western and Central African regions that will continue this year. Also as Least Developed Countries, Mali, Benin and Burkina Faso already have full duty and quota free access to the EU market, integration into regional Economic Partnership Agreements would provide additional trade benefits, including new agreements on development cooperation and the opportunity to benefit
from reformed rules of origin.
The Commissioner and the Ministers also discussed the importance of Aid for Trade and other trade and development issues.
Background
EU cotton production represents only 2% of global output. EU trade in cotton is completely free: no import duties or quantitative restrictions apply and no refunds are paid on exports. The EU is a net importer of cotton. EU cotton subsidies have no distorting effect on the international market.
The cotton sector in Benin, Chad, Burkina Faso and Mali employs around 2 million workers. This means that in these countries about 15 million people depend on cotton production and export for their living. In the major cotton producing African states, cotton accounts for between 50 and 80 percent of exports. Any downward pressure on cotton prices puts these people at serious risk. The subsidisation of cotton exports by developed countries has a disastrous effect on prices for these countries,
and that is why the EU has strongly called for the elimination of all forms of exports refunds.
For the implementation of the EU-Africa Partnership on Cotton agreed in 2004, the EU has made available substantial financial assistance. More than € 260 million has been allocated to cotton programmes and projects since 2004. This has been a substantial and major source of support that can be used in mitigating negative effects of the fall in cotton prices on the macro-economies of the countries concerned. This total amount is by far the most important contribution to cotton by any development
partner.
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