Joint team discusses U.S. infected cotton
JAKARTA (JP): Trade and industry officials and spinners discussed the problem of alleged cavitoma-infected cotton fiber from Yuma and Imperial Valley in California, the United States, at separate meetings here yesterday.
The problem of infected cotton bought from Calcot Ltd. was one of the seven issues within Indonesia-American trade relations discussed at a staff meeting chaired by Trade and Industry Minister Tunky Ariwibowo, said Lily Rosyana, the spokesperson for the ministry.
Rosyana, however, declined to elaborate on the trade issues but she added that insofar as the diseased cotton is concerned the discussions were exploratory in nature and gathered all facts pertaining to the problem.
The meeting apparently followed up a letter sent by Tunky to U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Dan Glickman early this month which asked for Glickman's cooperation to help resolve the problem of the diseased cotton.
The letter itself was sent following repeated complaints from PT Argo Manunggal that its American supplier, Calcot Ltd., had not responded to its claim regarding the diseased cotton delivered between October and December last year.
In a related development, the executives of 30 spinning companies gathered at the Shangri-La Hotel yesterday to discuss the cavitoma-infected cotton and other problems they faced with regards to imports from the U.S. which supplies about 45 percent of Indonesia's annual needs of 2.4 million bales (1.2 billion pounds) of cotton.
"We met to share information about any problems we face with regards to cotton imports from the U.S.," noted Anas Sukarmadji, one of the participants.
It turned out, Anas added, that the state-owned PT Sandang II spinning company in East Java also bought part of its cotton fiber from Calcot Ltd. and also claimed to have found it infected.
"The problem is that such contamination as that caused by cavitoma and honey dew is not covered by the rules applied by the Liverpool Cotton Association Ltd.-- the arbitration body for cotton trade disputes," he added.
The executive of another spinning company argued that it would be rather futile for Indonesian cotton buyers to settle claims through the Liverpool Cotton Association because the way the arbitration body works is biased towards the interests of the seller.
"It is therefore high time for Indonesian cotton consumers to lobby strongly for the establishment of an arbitration body in Jakarta to handle cotton trade disputes in the ASEAN region," he pointed out.
Strategy
With an annual import of almost 2.5 million bales a year and with a steady increase in cotton use by the rapidly-growing textile industry in the country, Indonesia deserves to have such an arbitration body, he argued.
He added that spinning companies in the country should set up networks in the form of a club to serve as a lobby forum to face cotton suppliers.
The meeting yesterday was the first attempt by spinners to set up a single forum. Until now, the spinning companies belong to two different business organizations-- the Indonesian Textile Association and the Sekbertal Spinners Association.
Husein Aminuddin, Chairman of Sekbertal and an associate director of the Liverpool Cotton Association, has expressed strong objection to the way Argo Manunggal is handling its trade dispute with Calcot Ltd.
Aminuddin insisted that the trade dispute should be resolved through the Liverpool Cotton Association but the spinners who met yesterday saw little chance for a fair settlement at the arbitration body. (vin)