International Cotton Advisory Committee’s General Assembly meeting which is held every year took place in Interlaken, Switzerland on the 7-12th October 2012. The committee which convened in relation to the topic of “Maintaining Sustainability in Cotton Value Chain” took important decisions about the future of the cotton. The 71st general assembly meeting of ICAC that was established in 1939 hosted about 400 participants including representatives of 46 member countries as well as the representatives of 14 international organisations. It was stated that one third of the participants were private sector representatives from ICAC’s member countries while on third of the participants were representatives of the public and international establishments. In the organisation where there were 400 representatives from 46 member countries, there was an official committee from Turkey, too. In this committee, Chairman Süleyman Kocasert represented Denizli Association of Exporters.
The main theme of the meeting held this year was “Maintaining Sustainability in Cotton Value Chain”. It was emphasized that all components of the cotton value chain should be in harmony to ensure sustainability in cotton production. Another prominent topic was cotton production in accordance with environmental standards. Members of ICAC reported that cotton prices which increased excessively in March 2011 decreased as of that date and it was also envisaged that cotton consumption of 2012/2013 season would fall behind the production amount of the same period. Another topic included in the meeting agenda was the fact that polyester has become a stronger alternative to the cotton. It was stated in ICAC’s General Assembly Meeting that a probable development of the future would also be the development of polyester in terms of both fiber quality and production capacity. According to the report explained by ICAC, the amount of cotton production will be around 26 million tons with a reduction of 6 % in the 2012/2013 season. It is also expected that the international cotton trade will decrease to 8 million tons in this period.
