ICAC meeting to focus on sustainable development (Switzerland)

Registration for the 71st Plenary Meeting of the International Cotton Advisory Committee (ICAC) since 1939 is underway at www.ICAC.org.

The 71st Plenary Meeting of the ICAC will provide an opportunity for government officials, members of the Expert Panel on Social, Environmental and Economic Performance of Cotton Production (SEEP), and representatives of the private sector to engage in a structured discussion of the concept of sustainable development and how this concept can be applied to the world cotton industry.

The entire supply chain will be considered, not just the agricultural segment. Due regard for the differences between developed and developing countries and between producing and consuming countries will be considered.

Plenary meeting participants will be able to discuss different technologies and techniques and their impacts on yields, resource use, the local environment, and profitability. The objective of the plenary meeting is not to determine which techniques are better.

Rather, choices will be left to farmers, ginners, merchants and textile mills based on their local conditions and priorities. The role of the ICAC in the discussion of sustainability is to showcase best practices, enable information exchange and to facilitate cooperation so as to provide options for more sustainable farming, ginning and spinning methods.

Topics of discussion during Open Sessions include:
- Sustainability in the Cotton Value Chain: It’s meaning relative to cotton; how does it apply in developed and developing countries, producing and consuming countries?
- Preparing the Cotton Industry for the Challenges of this Century
- Responsibility in the Cotton Value Chain: the Roles of Merchants, Input Manufacturers, Textile Mills and Retailers
- Intellectual Property Rights and the Role of Private Breeders

Five Breakout Sessions are planned:
- Round Table for Biotechnology in Cotton
- The Contribution of Textile Machinery to Resource Conservation and Cost Reduction in the Cotton Value Chain
- Contracts and Sustainability: Can we have sustainability without contract sanctity
- Cotton Statistics in the 21st Century
- Action Steps to a Green Cotton Economy
- Ensuring Sustainability for Natural Fibers through Demand Enhancement
- The Role of Governments in Facilitating and/or Promoting Organic Cotton, Fair Trade Cotton, CmiA and BCI

Meetings to be held on the margins of the Plenary Meeting include:
- Round Table for Biotechnology in Cotton
- International Forum for Cotton Promotion (IFCP) Expert Panel on Social, Environment and Economic Performance of Cotton Production (SEEP)
- Private Sector Advisory Panel (PSAP)
- Task Force on Commercial Standardization of Instrument Testing of Cotton (CSITC)

A Technical Tour of Swiss textile activities related to sustainability initiatives will be organized on Friday, October 12.