Survey Introduction

 In June through early August of 2008, the National Cotton Council (NCC) asked US mills and foreign mills to participate in an online survey, addressing bale packaging performance and lint contamination concerns. In addition to the NCC, two other organizations, the National Council of Textile Organizations (NCTO) and Cotton Council International (CCI), assisted with the preparation of the surveys and helped publicize the surveys. Both organizations targeted mill representatives who were willing to complete an online survey. NCTO assisted with the US mill survey and CCI assisted with the foreign mill survey. The work of NCTO and CCI resulted in an excellent response to the surveys.

The surveys served a four fold purpose. First, the surveys provided mills with an opportunity to convey their preferences for specific bale packaging materials, that is bagging and ties. Second, the surveys provided a vehicle for mills to provide feedback on lint contamination concerns. Third, survey questions provide a tool the NCC Joint Cotton Industry Bale Packaging Committee (JCIBPC) can use to gauge the attitudes of textile mills towards bale packaging preferences and performance. Fourth, the responses from the surveys will be used to strengthen the US cotton industry’s lint contamination prevention program.