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 Documents
Round Trials — 2009
Membership — November,
2008 (16K PDF)
Report of the 9th Meeting — April,
2008
Round Trials — 2008 Participants
Round Trials — 2008
Report of the 8th Meeting — October,
2007 (65K PDF)
The Expert Panel on Commercial Standardization of Instrument Testing
of Cotton (CSITC) was created
after the 62nd Plenary Meeting of the ICAC in 2003. Creation of
the panel occurred after several years of
discussion. During the 61st Plenary Meeting in Cairo in 2002, representatives
of producers and
consumers agreed that the cotton industry needs to move forward
in the adoption of instrument based
quality evaluation systems, and during the 62nd Plenary Meeting
in Gdansk representatives of merchants
and spinners agreed that an international agreement on the use
of instrument based quality evaluation
systems is needed to standardize quality test results. In the Statement
of the 62nd Plenary Meeting, the
Committee instructed the Secretariat to form an Expert Panel on
Instrument Testing of Cotton to explore
how best to establish an International Agreement on Instrument
Based Cotton Classing to ensure that
test results are uniform in all classing laboratories.
Membership
Membership in the Expert Panel reflects the geographic
diversity of cotton production, consumption and
trade and includes representatives of all segments of the industry,
including researchers, shippers,
producers, spinners and controllers.
Terms of Reference
The instruction to the Expert Panel from the
62nd Plenary Meeting is to explore how best to establish an
International Agreement on Instrument Based Cotton Classing to
ensure that test results are uniform, and
the Panel will determine how best this instruction can be accomplished.
As
it proceeds with its work, the Panel may formulate recommendations
on how countries can improve
their instrument based testing facilities. The Panel may develop
recommendations to encourage
increased international trade in cotton based on instrument based
classification systems, and the Panel
may formulate recommendations on how best to encourage more countries
to adopt instrument based
classification systems. The Panel may discuss alternative instruments
and ways the international
community can encourage adoption of the latest technology available.
Schedule
of Work and Procedures
The Expert Panel on Commercial Standardization of Instrument Testing of Cotton conducts its business primarily via email. The Expert Panel meets twice each year: at the ICAC plenary meeting and at one interim location. Consistent with established procedure within the ICAC, decisions of the Expert Panel are made by consensus. All costs associated with participation in the work of the Expert Panel are the responsibility of panel members.
As of May 2008, there have been nine meetings of the CSITC. The tenth meeting is scheduled for November 16, 2008 beginning at 13:30 in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.
A summary of major decisions from the first through the eighth meeting, and the report of the ninth meeting of CSITC, are contained in the Report of the Ninth Meeting.
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