Benin, which has just taken over as coordinator of the African Group, said the group wholly endorses the proposal. Supporting the general approach, if not yet the specifics, were China, Brazil, Paraguay and some others, even though they still needed time to study the proposal.
Some countries, such as the EU, China and Australia, welcomed the new paper for clarifying an issue. The Cotton Four's previous document (TN/AG/SCC/GEN/3) had called for Amber Box cuts on cotton that are three times the cuts for agriculture as a whole. This had suggested that if the general cuts were over 33 percent, the cuts for cotton would be over 100 percent, they said, whereas the new formula has clarified this.
New Zealand broadly supported the call for the total elimination of trade distorting supports. But the US said it cannot discuss this document substantively until it knows what is going to happen for agriculture as a whole and until it has seen the English version. A substantial result on domestic support for cotton requires a substantial result in all three pillars in agriculture, the US said.
Development issues
The Secretariat reported on consultations on the development aspects on 16 February, when several members reported new developments in the assistance they are providing and recipient countries strongly supported the reported implementation of these programmes.
Some called for the assistance to the extended to other African countries in similar circumstances, the Secretariat reported.
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