FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEJanuary 17, 2025
Washington, DC — The International Cotton Advisory Committee’s (ICAC) efforts to promote the instrument testing of cotton have been producing positive results, providing momentum as the new year begins.
The Committee for Commercial Standardization of Instrument Testing of Cotton (CSITC) has released the results of its fourth and final of the 2024 Round Trials, with 72 testing facilities submitting an all-time record of 173 instruments — the most ever tested in a single Round Trial in the committee’s 19-year existence (Figure 1). The median Overall Evaluation Result (OER) was 0.36, which is consistent with the 0.30 to 0.40 range that Round Trials have been producing since 2017 (Figure 2).
Figure 1. Facility and instrument participation from 2007 to 2024
Figure 2. OER from 2007 to 2024 with trend line Round Trials serve to improve cotton instrument testing worldwide by providing detailed, confidential, diagnostic results to each participating facility. Participating testing facilities do not receive pass/fail results; they are given a detailed analysis of their results and deviations from the reference values, which helps them to improve.
To continue its momentum, the CSITC has made several internal adjustments:
- Creating a new CSITC logo.
- Establishing an executive committee to provide leadership and make quick decisions.
- Updating the roles and responsibilities of members.
- Releasing a new brochure about its activities and the benefits of participation.
- Increasing outreach to instrument manufacturers and spinning mills.
- Focusing on member recruitment, with new members joining from countries including Brazil, India, Pakistan, and Türkiye.
For more information on CSITC and how to participate in Round Trials, please click
here.
About the International Cotton Advisory Committee (ICAC)
Formed in 1939, the ICAC is an association of cotton producing, consuming, trading, and investing 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 program. Committed to ensuring cotton’s continued sustainability, the ICAC is the only intergovernmental commodity body covering cotton that is recognized by the United Nations. For more information, please visit www.icac.org, Twitter or LinkedIn.