Thank you, Commissioner Odom, for those words of welcome to New Orleans. We appreciate your dedicated service to the state of Louisiana. And thank you again for making time in your schedule to join us today.
Next on the agenda, I would like to offer some opening remarks about this conference and discuss some recent activities of the National Cotton Council.
I am pleased to have this opportunity to participate in these conferences, which represent the largest annual gathering of the cotton industry, its agribusiness partners, scientists, universities and friends in government.
The Beltwide Cotton Conferences are unrivaled in terms of their diversity of audience and the number of research disciplines represented. However, all our participants today fully understand the importance of this gathering and the theme of this year’s conference-- “Innovation and Application: The Competitive Edge.”
The Beltwide partnership has a tremendously successful track record. And, the Council is very proud to be the “managing partner” of this alliance. But all of the Conferences’ organizers deserve our thanks and recognition for their hard work and the excellent job they do in organizing the many events.
In addition, the Beltwide Steering Committee, chaired by Bill Lovelady, deserves special recognition for conducting a thorough review of the conferences and making recommendations for the future. One of the committee’s proposals –the new three-day conference format-- which is being initiated this year, is a change designed to increase Beltwide attendance and enhance technology transfer.
I believe the planning committee has put together an excellent program during the next day and a half. They have identified a number of key innovations and will provide key expertise on how these new ideas can be applied profitably. How to manage lint quality, conservation tillage implementation, key insect pest management and the innovative grower panel presentations will provide many useful take home ideas for you the audience. I also believe that making the technical conferences more accessible to a larger audience will pay dividends for those of you attending.
In order for you to apply what you learn at these conferences, it is critical that the National Cotton Council continue is efforts on the many national and international policy fronts. As with the Beltwide partnership, I am pleased how our industry’s collective resources have been effectively applied to an array of priority issues this past year through the Council.
Legislative Affairs
The Council continues to work closely with other commodity and farm groups to effectively defend key provisions of the farm law. That has been the primary focus of our efforts during my trips to Washington and in meetings there with our friends in Congress and the Administration. Council testimony before House Agriculture Subcommittee on General Commodities and Risk Management last May commended them for developing balanced and effective legislation and reminded them of the need to keep the farm law intact for the remainder of its term. We also expressed the industry’s appreciation to USDA officials for the way the farm bill has been implemented.
The Council supported disaster legislation which was adopted as part of the Homeland Security appropriations bill. Unfortunately, some of the costs of the $14.5 billion package were offset by reductions in the Conservation Security Program—and the Council and other agricultural groups expressed grave concern about re-opening the 2002 farm law.
CSP implementation also was a focus of Council efforts to ensure that the program covers viable commercial-size operations and allows the participation of cotton producers from all areas of the Cotton Belt.
Trade
Along with defense of the farm bill, the Council has been working on a number of important trade issues.
We believe a good CAFTA is essential to preserving a viable U.S. cotton and textile industry. The CAFTA agreement that will be presented to Congress contains several provisions granting benefits to non-signatory countries. The Council has policy that opposes CAFTA in its current form, but we will continue to look for opportunities to negotiate improved textile provisions in any Central American agreement.
We must also address the WTO decision in the Brazil dispute. Very simply, the facts in this case, the economics and the existing WTO agreements do not support the dispute panel’s primary decisions. The Council continues to work closely with the U.S. attorneys involved in the case to pursue an aggressive appeal of the original panel’s findings. The appeals process will take several more months. We remain hopeful that the appeals process results in substantial revisions to the initial ruling.
The Doha Round of WTO negotiations, which were renewed in late July, have resulted in the development of an agricultural framework agreement. The agreement is an improvement from earlier versions but still contains specific references to cotton and includes the establishment of a special subcommittee that will meet periodically and report to the agricultural negotiating group. The Council has met with senior USTR officials concerning the special subcommittee’s charge and the timetable for further WTO talks.
Overall, the framework agreement seems to contain sufficient structural flexibility to maintain an effective farm program, but we have urged U.S. negotiators to ensure that any domestic support reductions beyond the initial year continue to move global subsidies toward harmonization and are not unfair to U.S. agriculture. We have also expressed strong support for a comprehensive agreement that involves all member countries and all commodities and does not single out the U.S. cotton program.
The Council continues to remain closely involved on a number of activities related to China. China has become a very good market for our exports but its unpredictability and its unwillingness to fully comply with all of its trade obligations requires the Council to make sure it complies with its WTO commitments. We have worked closely with the U.S. textile industry to ensure appropriate textile safeguards are imposed against surging China imports. In recent months, nine threat-based China textile safeguard petitions were filed and seven of these have been accepted for review by the Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements.
Last year, Council President Mark Lange participated in a number of meetings in China to promote the use of U.S. cotton, and as a member of the U.S. textile and apparel delegation, he had the opportunity to present the cotton industry’s concerns about China’s implementation of its WTO commitments, the need for China to open its markets and its economic system, and that U.S. manufacturing is being swamped by unfairly priced China-made apparel. In October, John Maguire and I also traveled to China where we participated in a number of meetings with Chinese officials and had the opportunity to reiterate the importance of fair trade between our two countries.
Throughout most of 2004, the U.S. cotton industry also has actively sought opportunities to establish a close working relationship with the cotton producing countries of West Africa. We embarked on this endeavor with the belief that there are many common issues and concerns between us, and that there was a great opportunity before us. We also believed there were real solutions to be realized through mutual dialogue and cooperative efforts, rather those being proposed to the WTO.
Potential linkages between West African cotton producers and the U.S. cotton industry have been explored in a number of meetings this past year. A delegation from Mali met with Council leaders during our Annual Meeting in New Orleans. In June, I was honored to participate in the Ministerial Conference on Agricultural Technology in Burkina Faso and to travel in that country to a number of cotton growing areas as part of a larger U.S. delegation. A West African delegation participated in a U.S. cotton industry orientation tour in July. Last fall, Council staff participated in a return visit to West Africa as part of a team of technical specialists who conducted a fact-finding mission. Next week, ACP Chairman John Pucheu will be part of a high-level government delegation that will meet with West African ministers in Mali to discuss near-term cooperative projects identified by the technical team.
We believe that these outreach efforts will pay positive dividends to both U.S. cotton and our West African counterparts as we enter the next round of WTO agricultural negotiations.
Cotton Research and Promotion
The Cotton Research and Promotion program is also crucial to cotton’s future. In response to current legal challenges, I am pleased that the industry is taking a direct role in its defense. I serve on the board of the Cotton Research and Promotion Defense Council that is overseeing the defense efforts. It will be a difficult case, given recent court decisions, but I am confident we will be successful.
We know the value of the research and promotion program. As a direct result of our efforts, the U.S. leads the world in per capita consumption of cotton products. We are the cotton market of the world, and our annual consumption of cotton textile and apparel products exceeds our own level of cotton production. This program is crucial to maintaining growth in cotton demand.
Cotton Council International
Likewise, with 65 percent or more of U.S. cotton fiber moving through export channels the Council’s export promotion arm, Cotton Council International, plays a major role in strengthening key markets in Europe, Asia, Latin America, the Middle East and Africa. Among its many effective programs, in November, CCI welcomed over 200 buyers of U.S. cotton from 30 countries to the Sourcing USA Summit in San Diego for a number of timely business forum sessions. These countries represent 12.2 million bales of consumption and imports of 5 million bales of U.S. cotton annually.
Committee for the Advancement of Cotton
Another critical area of emphasis is the political activity of the Council. The Committee for the Advancement of Cotton is the Council’s political action committee which enables us the combine the contributions of our members into effective support for our friends in Congress. You will next hear from John Maguire about the makeup of the new Administration and the 109th Congress and some of the critical issues. From the issues I have just reviewed, it is evident that we be politically strong. I urge you to support CAC.
Technical
Quality Task Force
Through the efforts of the Council’s Quality Task Force, critical quality issues –ranging from short fiber content to moisture management—are being addressed. The Task Force’s bale moisture recommendation –adopted by Council delegates and if implemented by gins—will assure the fiber’s color and other quality characteristics will not degrade from excess bale moisture.
And the latest educational materials for the Council’s lint contamination awareness program are appropriately focused on protecting and enhancing the value of U.S. cotton worldwide.
Flow
A number of cotton flow issues are being addressed by Council staff and industry committees. The Council’s newly established Phytosanitary Accreditation Protocol Task Force recently arranged for a cotton industry orientation and facility tour by USDA APHIS staff. In addition, the Council’s Rack Sample Study Committee completed its usage and handling survey and will continue to evaluate the effects of our practices on cotton marketing and flow.
Other Technical Activities
In 2004, the Council was active on a number of other fronts, including:
- Coordination of a Cotton Belt tour for Egyptian officials to demonstrate why fumigation of U.S. cotton is not necessary
- Helping affected industry members comply with EPA Spill Prevention Control and Countermeasure plan requirements
- Initiating necessary revisions of fire, building and other codes with application to densely-packed cotton bales to change their hazardous material designation, and
- The Council led reviews of USDA ARS post-harvest cotton and fiber bioscience research programs, which exceed $12 million.
Conclusion
In summary, I believe our industry has excellent prospects for achieving profitable cotton production and processing. The proceedings of this Conference will, no doubt, bear witness to the outstanding research programs underway and the availability of innovative technology.
There are still many challenges before us. Research, education and technology transfer continue to be critically important. I assure you that the Council will continue its longstanding commitment of its resources for technology development and transfer and bringing resolution to the technology-based priorities.
In concluding, I encourage your full participation in the Conference’s general sessions as well as the special workshops and seminars. These are excellent examples of the efforts underway in a wide array of scientific disciplines to lower costs and apply technology to a host of problems and opportunities.
I hope you enjoy the Conference and I extend best wishes for the year ahead.
Thank you.
