Short-Term Funding Bill Approved

'16 Upland Loan Rate Announced

TPP Negotiations Continuing in Atlanta

EPA Updates Pesticide Safety Rules

COTTON USA Shines at Paris Trade Shows

Sales, Shipments Steady

President Obama signed into law a spending bill that will avert a government shutdown and keep agencies operating until Dec. 11.

Because Congress was unable to agree on any of the 12 appropriations bills, the Senate and House were forced to pass a continuing resolution (CR) to allow time for Congressional leaders and the White House to reach a deal on a government-wide omnibus bill for FY16. This CR will keep the government operating into December when they will then be faced with another potential shutdown.

Lawmakers plan to work through the fall legislative session with hopes of settling on a two-year budget deal for fiscal years '16 and '17. ‎Also, the Obama Administration indicated that the federal debt limit will need to be increased by Nov. 5.

Commodity Credit Corp. Executive Vice President Val Dolcini announced that the marketing assistance loan rate for '16-crop base quality upland cotton is 52 cents per pound.

The '14 farm law sets the base quality marketing assistance loan rate for upland cotton at the simple average of the adjusted prevailing world price for the two immediately preceding marketing years, as determined by the Secretary of Agriculture and announced on Oct. 1, before the next domestic plantings. The marketing assistance loan rate cannot be less than 45 cents per pound or greater than 52 cents per pound. The '16-crop loan rate was set at 52 cents per pound because the calculation exceeded the maximum allowed level.

Base quality upland cotton has the following characteristics: color grade 41, leaf grade 4, staple length 1-1/16 inches, micronaire 3.5-3.6 and 4.3-4.9, strength 26.0-28.9 grams per tex, and length uniformity of 80.0-81.9%.

The latest round of the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiations in Atlanta, GA, began with the chief negotiators working to narrow the remaining differences before the trade ministers arrived for meetings that began on Sept. 30. The session was expected to conclude on Oct. 1 but may continue through Oct. 3 in hopes of trying to reach agreement on the remaining issues.

The outstanding issues include rules of origin on autos, market access for dairy products, tobacco issues and some final items related to textile provisions.

Staff of the NCC and National Council of Textile Organizations have been onsite closely following the discussions regarding textiles and staying in close contact with the US negotiators. ‎There remains a chance that the final issues will be resolved allowing the negotiations to conclude. If not, then another negotiating round likely will have to be scheduled for later this year.

EPA announced the revisions to its Worker Protection Standards. These standards, which had not been revised since '92, are aimed at protecting more than 2 million farmworkers and their families by tightening pesticide safety rules.

The NCC provided extensive comments on EPA's proposed rule when it was issued for review and comment in '14. Those comments are on the NCC's website at www.cotton.org/issues/2014/wpscomm.cfm.

The following revisions are included in EPA's final rule: 1) Prohibit children under the age of 18 from handling pesticides; 2) Require farmworkers to attend mandatory training every year instead of every five years, which now includes instructions to reduce take-home exposure; 3) Mandatory posting of "no entry" signs for areas treated with certain pesticides; 4) New "no-entry" buffer zones up to 100 feet surrounding pesticide application equipment; 5) Mandatory recordkeeping to improve states' ability to follow up on pesticide violations and enforce compliance. Records of application-specific pesticide information, as well as farmworker training, must be kept for two years; 6) Anti-retaliation protection for whistle blowers, whether US citizens or otherwise; and 7) Specific amounts of water must be used for routine and emergency washing.

In addition to these revisions, EPA stated there still will be continued exemption for farm owners and their immediate families with an expanded definition of immediate families. More information is in EPA's news release at http://1.usa.gov/1OGXRUS.

While continuing to showcase its "Love My Cotton" global advertising campaign, COTTON USA delivered US cotton sourcing assistance to major apparel industry players at the Texworld and Première Vision trade shows in Paris, France. The shows, representing the largest combined exhibition of the world's apparel manufacturers, attracted approximately 75,950 visitors from 120 countries, with a total of 2,869 exhibitors from more than 60 countries.

COTTON USA exhibited with Supima at Texworld and jointly exhibited with Cotton Incorporated at Première Vision. The trade shows provided a venue for COTTON USA to promote US cotton and its global marketing and licensing program. Four companies from different countries expressed interest in becoming COTTON USA licensees. Additionally, 24 COTTON USA-licensed mills from China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Korea, Pakistan, Thailand and Turkey displayed their products at Texworld.

In addition to sourcing support and COTTON USA licensing, information was made available on the Cotton LEADS™ program and on global developments in the cotton and apparel sectors. Various segments of the cotton textile supply chain met, and COTTON USA helped buyers and manufacturers looking for cotton garments and cotton yarn suppliers to identify new business contacts.

Net export sales for the week ending on Sept. 24 were 125,600 bales (480-lb.). This brings total '15-16 sales to approximately 3.3 million bales. Total sales at the same point in the '14-15 marketing year were approximately 5.7 million bales. Total new crop ('16-17) sales are 217,100 bales.

Shipments for the week were 79,000 bales, bringing total exports to date to 928,200 bales, compared with the 802,400 bales at the comparable point in the '14-15 marketing year.