First-ever World Cotton Day Celebration at WTO

(GENEVA, SWITZERLAND) In opening World Cotton Day at the World Trade Organization (WTO) on Monday, WTO Director-General (DG) Roberto Azevêdo underlined the importance of cotton to many developing countries and said he hoped that the event would “bring together the cotton, trade and development communities to foster greater value addition and value capture in developing countries”. Ministers highlighted the strategic role of cotton for cotton-producing countries such as Benin, Burkina Faso, Chad and Mali, known as the Cotton-Four (C-4), and other developing and least developed countries. DG Azevêdo asked participants to heed the challenges faced by cotton farmers, including market access barriers, subsidies provided by some countries and supply-side challenges at home which limit the competitiveness of export-oriented processing. World Cotton Day was established to celebrate all aspects of cotton, from its qualities as a natural fiber to the benefits people obtain from its production, transformation, trade, and consumption. The event is intended to shed light on the challenges faced by the cotton sector around the world, and particularly in least-developed countries (LDCs).