News
ICAC Assembles Private Sector Council Representing All Sectors of the Cotton Supply Chain
For the first time in the cotton industry, there will be an expert committee that combines perspectives and opinions from every sector of the cotton supply chain: The ICAC’s Private Sector Advisory Council (PSAC).
The PSAC was born out of the success of its predecessor, the Private Sector Advisory Panel, whose members were private sector professionals from several areas of the cotton supply chain. The new PSAC is populated by executives from national, regional and international cotton and textile organisations, rather than from individual private businesses. Currently, membership is only open to individuals representing organisations from ICAC Member countries, but later this year, executives from UN organisations, the WTO, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and non-ICAC Member countries will be permitted to join as Observers.
Membership of the PSAC is free and its mandate is to foster communication between the private sector and ICAC member governments in order to raise global industry concerns and promote global and regional initiatives that benefit the cotton industry.
‘Governments recognise the importance of working more closely and collaboratively with the private sector to develop national policies and international initiatives that will help promote a sustainable, transparent supply chain and increase the demand for cotton’, said ICAC executive Director Kai Hughes. ‘In order to better represent the global cotton supply chain, the ICAC has replaced the PSAP with a new, more inclusive and diverse PSAC, whose membership consists of international, national and regional associations covering all sectors from production and trade, to textiles, retailers and brands’.
There are four Permanent Committees of the PSAC:
- Spinners, Weavers and Machinery Manufacturers,
- Brands and Retailers,
- Producers and Ginners, and
- Merchants and Ancillary Services.
There are currently 53 founding members of the PSAC. The first PSAC meeting was held by the Merchants and Ancillary Services committee on 17 March, with members from each of the other committees working to schedule their inaugural meetings now. One of their first tasks will be to nominate three members from each Permanent Committee to serve on the PSAC Executive Committee.
Executives who would like more information about participation in the PSAC should contact ICAC Commodity Trade Analyst Parkhi Vats at parkhi@icac.org.
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About the International Cotton Advisory Committee (ICAC)
Formed in 1939, the ICAC is an association of cotton producing, consuming and trading countries. It acts as a catalyst for change by helping member countries maintain a healthy world cotton economy; provides transparency to the world cotton market by serving as a clearinghouse for technical information on cotton production; and serves as a forum for discussing cotton issues of international significance. In addition, members can take advantage of the ICAC’s global network of cotton researchers, whose expertise covers the supply chain from farm to textile manufacturing, and have free access to its cutting-edge technologies like the voice-based app and virtual technology cotton training programme. Committed to ensuring cotton’s continued sustainability, the ICAC is the only intergovernmental commodity body covering cotton that is recognised by the United Nations. For more information, please visit www.icac.org, Twitter or LinkedIn.