Govt concerned about infected U.S. cotton

Govt concerned about infected U.S. cotton

JAKARTA (JP): The Indonesian government has expressed its
concern with infected cotton fiber imported from Yuma and
Imperial Valley in California, the United States, which supplies
almost 45 percent of the 2.1 million bales used every year in the
Indonesian textile industry, industry sources said here last
week.

The sources said Minister of Trade and Industry Tunky
Ariwibowo sent a letter last week to American Secretary of
Agriculture Dan Glickman asking for his cooperation in resolving
the problem before it affects Indonesian textile companies.

An Indonesian Textile Association executive said Tunky's
intervention into the issue was prompted by repeated complaints
from PT Argo Manunggal International, which reported that the
cotton fiber it received from Calcot Ltd. in California between
last October and December had been infected by cavitoma fungus.

"The complaint is supported by a laboratory test done by the
Japan Spinners Inspecting Foundation in Osaka but Calcot Ltd. has
not responded positively," an executive of the Argo Manunggal
group confirmed on Friday.

He disclosed that Argo Manunggal first raised the issue in
January after discovering that cotton fiber from the October-
December shipments (20,545 bales) produced an excess of waste due
to lower fiber strength and lower-quality yarns.

Records show that Argo Manunggal also brought up the issue
with the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), the
Singapore office of Cotton Inc.-- the Southeast Asian
representative of U.S. cotton suppliers -- the American Cotton
Shippers Association and Cotton Council International in
Washington.

However, Husein Aminuddin -- the Indonesian associate director
of the Liverpool Cotton Association Ltd., the Britain-based
arbitration body for cotton trade disputes -- rejected the
complaint as groundless.

"A plant check done by a technician from the Singapore office
of Cotton Inc. did not find any cavitoma fungus in the cotton
consignment from Calcot Ltd.," added Aminuddin, who is also the
chairman of the Sekbertal Spinners Association.

Moreover, Aminuddin contended, no other importers, except Argo
Manunggal, had complained of cavitoma infection.

"They should have brought the commercial dispute with Calcot
Ltd. to the Liverpool Cotton Association Ltd. of which I am an
associate director," Aminuddin added.

Argo Manunggal, however, argued in its complaint that it would
resolve the dispute through one of the arbitration bodies for
cotton trade disputes.

"However, since the issue is related to disease infection the
problem should be brought to the attention of the Indonesian and
American governments," the Argo Manunggal executive argued.

Different interpretations of the cavitoma fungus seem partly
responsible for the dragging negotiations between Argo Manunggal
and Calcot Ltd.

Calcot executive John Burch, who visited the Argo Manunggal
mills in Bekasi and Tangerang in March, said that the infected
cotton fiber was a severe problem.

The American Cotton Shippers Association also acknowledged
that Arizona has occasional problems with cavitoma fungus, which
is difficult to detect.

Even Cotton Inc. indirectly admitted to the problem in
January, when it sent detailed technical directives to Argo
Manunggal on how to handle and process cavitoma-infected cotton
fiber.

Calcot executives acknowledged that the cotton fiber it
shipped in the last quarter of 1995 was infected with
cavitoma infection. They made the admission during their mid-
March negotiations with Argo Manunggal in Bakersfield,
California, which were also attended by Indonesian Agricultural
Attache P. Natigor Siagian from Washington.

However, Rick Yoshimitsu of the USDA's export certification
department responded to Argo Manunggal's complaint by saying that
cavitoma is a condition and not a disease organism. Therefore, he
said, it is a quality issue and not phytosanitary one. (vin)