A Profile of the ICAC

The cotton market is one of the most exciting and diverse commodity industries in the world, providing employment to hundreds of millions of farmers and processors and serving as an engine of economic growth in both developed and developing countries across six continents. Cotton is simultaneously an agricultural product and industrial raw material, and the ICAC serves this industry as a source of timely, market-relevant statistics and scientific information and as a forum for international cooperation.

The ICAC is an association of governments of cotton producing, consuming and trading countries. The Committee was formed in 1939, and the Secretariat was established in 1946. The annual budget is US$1.7 million, of which about 85% come from government assessments and 15% from the sale of subscriptions and participant fees at meetings and seminars. There are eleven members of the secretariat representing ten countries; all work from one office in Washington. Documents are published in English, French and Spanish, monthly summaries are available in Russian and annual summaries are available in Arabic and Russian.

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 both 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 is the premier source of international data on the world cotton industry. The Secretariat forecasts cotton supply, use and prices, estimates cotton supply by type, 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 helped to sponsor the first two world cotton research conferences, and has helped 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 has kept abreast of new developments in cotton research, including organic cotton production, transgenic cotton and developments in fiber testing equipment like HVI. 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 handpicked cotton.

The ICAC is the International Commodity Body for Cotton and Cotton Textiles before the Common Fund for Commodities (CFC). Fifteen Common Fund projects involving cotton are bringing a total of more than US$20 million into cotton research and market development activities.

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.

At the 63rd Plenary Meeting in 2004 in Mumbai, India:

• The Committee endorsed the establishment of an international protocol on instrument testing of cotton and authorized the work of an Expert Panel to implement such a protocol, and

• The Committee facilitated the adoption of genetically engineered cotton varieties through the adoption of common biosafety protocols,

• Member governments of the ICAC recognized that government measures that distort cotton production and trade reduce efficiency and result in lower incomes to cotton growers. The ICAC encourages a successful conclusion to the Doha Round of negotiations within the WTO.

During the 64th Plenary Meeting in 2005 in Liverpool, UK:

• The Committee encouraged the universal adoption of a common set of trade rules and contract terms that reflect the customs and usage of the international trade in cotton.

• The ICAC supported the work of the International Forum for Cotton Promotion and actively encouraged national cotton sector organizations to promote increased retail consumption of cotton.

• The ICAC encouraged the adoption of Integrated Pest Management (IPM) and Better or Best Management Practices (BMPs) that enable producers to improve resource use, enhance environmental outcomes, reduce waste, assure market access and strengthen relations with local stakeholders.

During the 65th Plenary Meeting in 2006 in Goiania, Brazil:

• The Committee called on the WTO and its members to urgently resume the “suspended” Doha round of multilateral trade negotiations. The Committee agreed that a liberalized world trade system for cotton can best be reached through WTO framework.

• The Committee instructed the Secretariat to work with the WTO to conduct annual workshops on cotton trade and development aspects.

• The Committee directed the Secretariat to form an Expert Panel on the Social, Environmental and Economic Performance of the world cotton industry. The Expert Panel will provide objective, science-based information to the Committee on the negative and positive aspects of global cotton production and will make recommendations for further action as appropriate. As one component of its mandate, the Expert Panel will gather information from around the world on costs of agricultural labor and the factors that affect those costs.

• The Task Force on Commercial Standardization of Instrument Testing of Cotton (CSITC) reported that it will begin conducting Round Trials among testing centers on a voluntary basis during 2006 so as to provide information about the accuracy and precision of test center performance to test center operators.

• The Committee received a report from its Private Sector Advisory Panel (PSAP). The PSAP suggested that governments should prohibit destructive systems that add liquid moisture to bales solely for the purpose of increasing weight.

• The Committee accepted an invitation from the Government of Turkey to host the 66th Plenary Meeting in the city of Izmir during 22-27 October 2007.

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.

Sincerely,

Terry P. Townsend
Executive Director