USA: 29th UNIVERSAL COTTON STANDARDS CONFERENCE

On 19 – 21 June 2013, in Raleigh, NC, USA the 29th Universal Cotton Standards Conference was held, organised by the US Department of Agriculture, which was attended by Mr Zbigniew Roskwitalski – the GCA Director and Mr Andrzej Drozdz – the GCA  Expert – as the delegation of the Gdynia Cotton Association which is the Signatory of the Standards Agreement within the Group of the Overseas Signatories. Pursuant to the Universal Cotton Standards Agreement, authorised Conference participants carried out a review and adoption of new Universal Standards for American Upland Cotton which will be valid in the four coming seasons. The participants also accepted the implementation of 2 changes proposed by the US Department of Agriculture – pertaining to:

• extension of the period between the Conferences from 3 to 4 years
• adoption of HVI Cotton Trash Standards as Universal Standards 

Review of new Standards, reworking faults, discussion & consideration of proposals

from the left: Andrzej Drozdz (expert GCA), Mark Messura (Senior Vice President Cotton Incorporated),  

                     Zbigniew Roskwitalski (Vice President GCA)

On 17 – 19 June, the 29th Universal Cotton Standards Conference was preceded by the Cotton Competitiveness Conference – Cultivating Success in a Global Market, organised by Cotton Incorporated. The theme of that Conference encompassed a wide spectrum of issues:

– cotton planting, mew method of harvesting in the USA, ginning

– technology of cotton processing and textiles’ manufacture

– ecology – GMO varieties, water consumption, sustainable growth

– cotton quality assessment. 

The participants of the Conference could visit Cotton Incorporated laboratories – including spinning, weaving, knitting, and finishing departments.