WTO’s Cotton Crisis and the Crisis in Commodities

Significant disagreements over new agriculture trade rules helped doom the WTO’s Doha talks. Within the agriculture negotiations, addressing the crisis of low cotton prices was consistently pushed to center stage. If the Doha Round continues, the concerns of cotton-producing countries will have to be addressed. In a new analysis, IATP’s Steve Suppan outlines the cotton initiative introduced by Benin, Burkina Faso, Chad and Mali (the Cotton 4) and considers some factors affecting cotton prices that fall outside the WTO’s current purview, particularly competition from oil-based and subsidized fibers. And it looks at the possibility of addressing the concerns raised by the Cotton 4 in the context of the wider African Group proposal on commodities. 4p, pdf doc.