Le dumping de coton-fibre : quelle réponse y apporter ? Le Sud contre le Nord, ou l'émergence d'un modèle agricole viable aux quatre coins du globe ?

• Main Author: Parmentier S.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Presses Agronomiques de Gembloux 2006-01-01
• Series: Biotechnologie, Agronomie, Société et Environnement
• Subjects: Dumping; subsidies; incomes; supply management; market prices; price support; regulation; North-South
• Online Access: http://www.pressesagro.be/base/text/v10n4/299.pdf

How to deal with cotton dumping ? The South versus the North or the emergence of a global and viable form ofagriculture ? If there is today a broad consensus on the legitimacy and the need to put an end to the dumping of the exportationof cotton fi ber, there is currently no general agreement on the way to end this practice. The strategy most often recommendedis based on the belief that this dumping originates entirely from the provision of subsidies and consists simply and only inproposing to eliminate subsidies. This strategy raises a number of issues, however. First, it relies on an erroneous diagnosis ofthe origin of dumping, and consequently prevents any real solution to the source of the problem. In addition, such strategy doesnot offer any guarantee of fair and stable prices on the international markets. Finally, this strategy conditions an amelioration ofconditions for the cotton lines of West and Central Africa (WCA) to the downfall of a signifi cant part of the cotton productionin the developed countries. Starting from the examination of the limitations and problems inherent to this strategy, the presentarticle attempts to outline the contours of an alternative strategy able that is not subject to the same limitations. This alternativestrategy aims to regulate adequately the setting of agricultural prices and to manage subsidize agriculture advisedly. Ultimately,examining these two strategies partly boils down to examining the fundamental objectives of agricultural policies in the contextof the North-South relations and the current globalization. In conclusion, is the pivotal goal to « defend the South against theNorth », or rather to promote a sustainable agricultural model for farmers and other agricultural stakeholders across the world ?A corollary question is that of the means necessary to optimize the outcome of agricultureʼs aims and objectives.