Cotton Council International (CCI) is the overseas arm of the National Cotton Council. In its foreign activities, CCI represents producers and all other segments of this industry. By building markets abroad, it indirectly represents allied industry groups whose cotton industry customers have a major stake in the export market.

CCI's global operations are developed and supervised from Washington. Europe and Africa are covered from Brussels, while Asia is coordinated out of our Bong Kong office.

With the goal of increasing foreign consumption of U.S. cotton and its products, we work closely with USDA's foreign agricultural service and international organizations to expand export markets. We rely on industry guidance and participation to keep our programs responsive to industry needs.

International coordination is necessary in conducting efficient and effective programs. For example, working in conjunction with Cotton Incorporated (CI), we regularly advise each other of our respective activities, and explore areas in which Cotton Incorporated's technical service and CCI's promotion/trade contact programs will be complimentary. Further, in September, CCI formally introduced the Cl technical group to major textile mills in southeast Asia. These are the mills with whom we work closely on promotional activities and they are the same mills which can utilize CI's technical assistance.

Similar liaison is maintained with the International Institute for Cotton in western Europe and Japan.