Profile of the ICAC

The mission of the ICAC is to assist governments in fostering a healthy world cotton economy. The Committee achieves its mission by providing transparency to the world cotton market, by serving as a clearinghouse for technical information on cotton production and by serving as a forum for discussion of cotton issues of international significance. The role of the ICAC is to raise awareness of emerging issues, provide information relevant to the solving of problems and to foster cooperation in the achievement of common objectives. By serving as an objective statistical observer and by bringing together producing, consuming and trading countries and all segments of the cotton industry, the ICAC serves a unique role as a catalyst for constructive change.

The ICAC does not have a role in setting market prices or in intervening in market mechanisms. However, the ICAC Secretariat provides valuable information that is timely and relevant to all sectors of the cotton industry in assessing market conditions. The ICAC is the premier source of international data on the world cotton industry. The Secretariat forecasts cotton supply, use and prices, estimates the supply of extra-fine cotton, and tracks exports by destination and imports by origin. The Secretariat measures and forecasts cotton consumption and cotton’s share of fiber demand in the world and by region and is the primary source in the world for statistics on fiber demand.

The ICAC Research Associate Program serves as an annual training program for researchers from both producing and consuming countries. The ICAC organizes each World Cotton Research Conference at four-year intervals, and helps to sponsor regional technical conferences around the world. Issues of The Recorder, special technical publications, as well as research on the cost of cotton production and cotton production practices help to inform all segments of the cotton research community. The Secretariat keeps abreast of new developments in cotton research, including organic cotton production, transgenic cotton and developments in fiber testing. The Secretariat is actively engaged in efforts to develop an international consensus on the adoption of objective classification standards to replace the current system of grades and types, and the Secretariat is facilitating efforts in producing countries to develop methods of reducing contamination in cotton.

The ICAC Task Force on Commercial Standardization of Instrument Testing of Cotton (CSITC) serves as the basis for international cooperation among cotton testing laboratories. CSITC ensures that all laboratories testing cotton are using the same calibration standards and same definitions to ensure that tests performed anywhere in the world are comparable.

The ICAC Expert Panel on Social, Environmental and Economic Performance of Cotton Production (SEEP) works to provide information about the impacts of cotton production and recommend policies and practices to governments for improvement. SEEP published a review of social science literature on the social impacts of cotton production. SEEP is now finalizing a report on pesticide use in cotton production, and SEEP is gathering data on labor costs and practices in cotton production. The ICAC Secretariat works with UNICEF, government agencies and some NGOs on the issue of child labor in cotton production.

The ICAC is the International Commodity Body for Cotton and Cotton Textiles before the Common Fund for Commodities (CFC). Since the Fund became operational in the early 1990s, a total of 22 cotton projects valued at $70 million have been supported.

Plenary Meetings

Plenary meetings of the ICAC provide a forum for the discussion of international issues of importance to the world cotton industry, and provide opportunities for industry and government leaders from producing, consuming and trading countries to consult on matters of mutual concern.

Dictates of the 65th Plenary Meeting (49K PDF) in 2006 in Goiania, Brazil

Dictates of the 66th Plenary Meeting (123K PDF) in 2007 in Izmir, Turkey

Dictates of the 67th Plenary Meeting (299K PDF) in 2008 in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso

Dictates of the 68th Plenary Meeting (57K PDF) in 2009 in Cape Town, South Africa

Dictates of the 69th Plenary Meeting (176K PDF) in 2010 in Lubbock, Texas, USA

As the International Commodity Body for Cotton and Cotton Textiles, the ICAC plays a crucial role in the achievement of broad objectives in the cotton industry, and all industry participants and government officials with a concern about the health of the sector are invited to participate in ICAC activities.

Terry P. Townsend
Executive Director

Member Countries

Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chad,  Colombia, Cote d’Ivoire, Egypt, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, India, Iran, Italy, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Korea, Mali, Mozambique, Nigeria, Pakistan, Paraguay, Peru, Poland, Russia, South Africa, Spain, Sudan, Switzerland, Syria, Taiwan, Tanzania, Togo, Turkey, Uganda, United States, Uzbekistan, Zambia, and  Zimbabwe.