​The Commodities Branch attended the 77th Plenary Meeting of the International Cotton Advisory Committee (ICAC) in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire from 2-6 December. The ICAC is the intergovernmental body for cotton, with a membership comprised of exporting and importing countries. UNCTAD is the UN focal point for the ICAC and other intergovernmental commodities bodies (ICBs).

UNCTAD attended the meeting to: a) update delegates on the progress of our UN Development Account project on “Promoting cotton by-products in Eastern and Southern Africa”; b) to present initiatives, developed under our project, on commercializing cotton stalks; and c) along with the WTO, to announce a new WTO-UNCTAD-ITC joint technical cooperation initiative on cotton by-products.