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 Summary of Round Trial Results and the CSITC.org web site (external web site)
Documents
Report of the 14th Meeting — September,
2010
Reports of previous meetings
Membership — August,
2011 (12K PDF)
The Task Force on Commercial Standardization of Instrument Testing
of Cotton (CSITC) was created
after the 62nd Plenary Meeting of the ICAC in 2003. Creation of
the panel occurred after several years of
discussion. During the 61st Plenary Meeting in Cairo in 2002, representatives
of producers and
consumers agreed that the cotton industry needs to move forward
in the adoption of instrument based
quality evaluation systems, and during the 62nd Plenary Meeting
in Gdansk representatives of merchants
and spinners agreed that an international agreement on the use
of instrument based quality evaluation
systems is needed to standardize quality test results. In the Statement
of the 62nd Plenary Meeting, the
Committee instructed the Secretariat to form an Expert Panel on
Instrument Testing of Cotton to explore
how best to establish an International Agreement on Instrument
Based Cotton Classing to ensure that
test results are uniform in all classing laboratories.
Membership
Membership in the Task Force reflects the geographic
diversity of cotton production, consumption and
trade and includes representatives of all segments of the industry,
including researchers, shippers,
producers, spinners and controllers.
Terms of Reference
The instruction to the Task Force from the
62nd Plenary Meeting is to explore how best to establish an
International Agreement on Instrument Based Cotton Classing to
ensure that test results are uniform, and
the Panel will determine how best this instruction can be accomplished.
As
it proceeds with its work, the Panel may formulate recommendations
on how countries can improve
their instrument based testing facilities. The Panel may develop
recommendations to encourage
increased international trade in cotton based on instrument based
classification systems, and the Panel
may formulate recommendations on how best to encourage more countries
to adopt instrument based
classification systems. The Panel may discuss alternative instruments
and ways the international
community can encourage adoption of the latest technology available.
Schedule
of Work and Procedures
The Task Force on Commercial Standardization of Instrument Testing of Cotton conducts its business primarily via email. The Task Force meets twice each year: at the ICAC plenary meeting and at one interim location. Consistent with established procedure within the ICAC, decisions of the Task Force are made by consensus. All costs associated with participation in the work of the Expert Panel are the responsibility of panel members.
As of August 2011, there have been fifteen meetings. The sixteenth
meeting is scheduled for September 4, 2011 in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
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