Main policy areas
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Remarks
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General
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- Cotton is covered under the AoA, but cotton products are covered
under the Agreement on Textiles and Clothing.
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Tariff quota administration
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- A few countries such as China have TRQ for its imports.
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Tariffs
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- Most tariffs on cotton are low but cotton textiles and clothing are
highly restricted in many developed and some developing countries in
order to protect domestic industries.
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Amber box
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- Several major producers/exporters strongly resent the trade distorting
domestic support provided in a few developed countries (e.g. United
States and EU), where (relatively high-cost) production and exports
are aided by support measures;
- Support provided in developing countries is traditionally low (due
to general liberalisation reforms, financial constraints etc.) and not
affected by reduction commitments; mostly ad hoc intervention
in domestic markets.
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Export subsidies
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- Direct and indirect export subsidies/refunds are used in the both
developed and developing exporters such as EU.
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Export credits
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- applied by few selected countries including US
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State Trading Enterprises
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- Most STEs are importers;
- While still operating in selected countries in Asia (in particular
China), STE interference in the sector has been progressively scaled
back over recent years.
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Export restrictions and prohibitions
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- To ensure the domestic inputs for the textiles industry, some countries
such as Pakistan set up certain restrictions when domestic production
was low.
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Food security
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- Millions of small farmer rely on cash income from sales and exports
of their cotton.
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Environmental measures
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- Issues raised related to biotech cotton but no agreed measurements
to deal with.
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Rural development
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- Very important for local community development as millions of smallholders
rely on cotton for their livelihoods.
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