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Related Keywords: African countries mainly Burkina, beginning of next year, Benin, can begin export cotton, Chad and Mali and other developing countries, developed countries, duty and quota free, Faso, gain greater access to non-producing foreign markets, global deal sealed, LDCs to export more cotton, tenth Ministerial Conference, World Trade Organization

The World Trade Organization’s 10th Ministerial Conference held in Nairobi, Kenya, from December 15 to 19, was the first such meeting hosted by an African nation where the ministers agreed on a deal that will allow least developed countries (LDCs) to export more cotton to developed countries. Following a global deal sealed, African countries mainly Burkina, Faso, Benin, Chad and Mali and other developing countries can begin to export their cotton to developed countries duty-and quota-free from from beginning of next year, January1, 2016.

Related Keywords: Benin, Burkina Faso, Chad and Mali, cotton producing countries, Cotton-4, decline cotton export, global ending cotton stock, ICAC, over subsidies, policy change in China, raw cotton output, shrink significantly, world cotton trade

The Cotton-4 (C-4), the main four cotton producing countries Benin, Burkina Faso, Chad and Mali (C4) in Africa, which account for about 40 percent of the continent’s raw cotton output. have raised concerns over subsidies and trade policies after the International Cotton Advisory Committee (ICAC) said in its 2014-15 outlook that world cotton trade could shrink significantly this year and probably in years to come.

African countries have gone to WTO to seek information about trade policies; India’s cotton subsidies under scanner.