EU AND US SAFEGUARDS AGAINST CHINESE TEXTILE EXPORTS: WHAT CONSEQUENCES FOR WEST AFRICAN COTTON-PRODUCING COUNTRIES? By Claire Delpeuch, Groupe d’Economie Mondiale Policy Brief, March 2007. The phase-out of the Agreement on Textiles and Clothing in 2005 should have boosted Chinese textile production and demand for cotton imports, raising the world price of cotton. However, the EU and the US have applied new restrictions on textile and clothing imports from China. In recent years, most of the growth in West African cotton exports has been driven by China. These exchanges, in turn, are heavily dependent on China’s textile exports to the EU and the US. Restrictions against Chinese textiles may have also seriously disadvantaged West African cotton export opportunities since 2005. Read the full paper online at: http://www.gem.sciences-po.fr/content/publications/pdf/delpeuch_cotton_WAcountriesENPB-2007-02.pdf
NGOs, INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS AND MULTILATERAL INSTITUTIONS. By Duncan Matthews, Queen Mary Intellectual Property Research Institute, December 2006. The Non-Governmental Organisations, Intellectual Property Rights and Multilateral Institutions (IP-NGOs) research project, which began in October 2005 and ended in December 2006, has published its final report. The report analyses the role of both "international" NGOs, in the context of IP standard-setting processes, and "southern" NGOs, in raising awareness as to the implications of IP for development. It also assesses NGO engagement with multilateral institutions and industry, and presents clear summaries and recommendations for the future of NGO contributions to IP policy-making. Download the full report, and other project documents and resources of interest, at http://www.ipngos.org/
SUBSIDIES AND REGULATORY REFORM IN WEST AFRICAN COTTON: WHAT ARE THE DEVELOPMENT STAKES? By Ben Shepherd and Claire Delpeuch, Groupe d’Economie Mondiale Policy Brief, March 2007. Cotton producers in West Africa are relatively unresponsive to changes in world prices and are, therefore, poorly placed to take advantage of improved market conditions that may result with the reduction or abolition of cotton subsidies in rich countries. The authors suggest some broad goals for formulating regulatory reforms to increase price responsiveness. Among them, improving cotton sector productivity by reinforcing infrastructure and supply chains, investing in information infrastructure to bring farmers closer to markets, and ensuring openness to technological advances in biotechnology. Read the full paper online at: http://www.gem.sciences-po.fr/content/publications/pdf/shepherd_delpeuch_cotton_subsidies_WA_EN_PB-2007-01.pdf
PRICING FARMERS OUT OF COTTON: THE COSTS OF WORLD BANK REFORMS IN MALI. Oxfam Briefing Paper, 15 March 2007. This report analyzes how efforts to privatize the Malian cotton sector, the second largest in Africa, could leave struggling farmers worse off. The paper specifically examines the new price-setting mechanism which, the paper argues, transmits falling world cotton prices directly to the local farmer and increases poverty. The resulting rises in indebtedness and food insecurity have undermined productive capacity not only affecting cotton-dependent communities but the economic growth of the whole country. The paper recommends implementation of guaranteed minimum prices, a national support or insurance fund, development and planting of alternative crops, and investment for the long-run. Access the paper online at http://www.oxfam.org/en/policy/briefingpapers/bp99_cotton_mali.