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Cotton Partners
Weave Programs To Benefit Industry Abroad
By Dale Cougot
Exports are vital to the economic health of the U.S. cotton industry–exports of both cotton fiber and manufactured products. Today, exports of raw cotton alone account for close to a third of the U.S. cotton crop.
In addition to bolstering returns to U.S. farmers, cotton fiber and product exports contributed $6.9 billion to the U.S. balance of trade in market year 1998/99, creating jobs and contributing to the income base of the U.S. agricultural and textile manufacturing sectors and the economy at large.
Trade organizations are working collaboratively to counter trade barriers and increasingly fierce competition from foreign cotton and synthetic fibers: the Cotton Board, through its promotional and research arm, Cotton Incorporated (CI), and the National Cotton Council (NCC), through its promotional arm, Cotton Council International (CCI).
Cotton Board and Cotton Incorporated
In 1966, with the passage of the Cotton Research and Promotion Act, U.S. upland cotton growers voted to set up a per-bale assessment system to fund cultivation, processing and manufacturing research as well as domestic and export promotion of cotton consumption.
Nearly $60 million is collected annually, one-third of which is derived from assessments on imported cotton that benefits from CI’s domestic promotion efforts such as the very recognizable "Fabric of our Lives" campaign and the seal of cotton.
About sixteen percent of the checkoff funds go for export promotion.
Responsibility for oversight of the checkoff program falls upon the Agricultural Marketing Service. Meanwhile, the Foreign Agricultural Service approves all international activities to ensure they complement rather than compete with other programs abroad administered by USDA.
Cotton Incorporated is inaugurating its new state-of-the art research facilities in Raleigh, N. Car. They also maintain marketing offices in New York City, Los Angeles, and Dallas, as well as internal offices in Switzerland, Japan, Singapore, Mexico, and China.
The Seal of Cotton
Few visual icons are as recognizable as the seal of cotton,
which identifies Cotton Incorporated advertising campaigns,
merchandising activities and point-of-purchase programs.
It’s so effective that more than 7 out of 10 U.S. consumers
recognize the seal of cotton. 
Studies show that awareness and recall of products labeled "100-percent cotton" is significantly higher when the seal of cotton is displayed on the product.
There are no licensing fees to use the Seal of Cotton.
Global Product Marketing
Consumer advertising is only one part of the services rendered by Cotton Incorporated. Their global product marketing experts work in many ways to increase the visibility of U.S. upland cotton and its products, offering a wide range of after-sale services to domestic and international customers.
For example, Cotton Incorporated is positioned to provide value-added services to textile mills in countries that represent over 95 percent of U.S. cotton exports annually. These services are supported by a strong corporate team of fiber, textile, fashion and marketing specialists devoted to building their market share.
In addition to its cotton promotion campaign in North America,
CI provides expert technical advice to U.S. and foreign cotton
spinners, weavers, dyers and apparel manufacturers. CI also hosts
countless delegations to tours and technical seminars in its
Raleigh facility. The CI marketing offices, both in the United
States and internationally, operate "The Cottonworks,"
fabric libraries that showcase both100-percent cotton and
cotton-rich fabrics.
CI also provides two apparel and one home product fashion trend forecasts annually that are offered 18 to 22 months in advance of the selling season. These presentations to influential clothing and textile designers, manufacturers and the fashion press help transfer information about color, fabric trends and silhouette direction.
National Cotton Council and Cotton Council International (CCI)
The National Cotton Council represents the entire spectrum of the cotton industry. Among its delegates are producers, ginners, warehouse owners, merchants, crushers, cooperatives and manufacturers.
What Cotton Incorporated knows, it shares. This may range from fashion and color forecasts, textile and consumer market research, and fiber quality and supply updates, to new cotton product technology and cotton fabric and product sourcing.
Learning more about the top global fiber and being better prepared to deal with your competition can be as simple as sitting down at a computer and visiting their web-site at www.cottoninc.com
In addition to the checkoff assessment, 17 cotton-producing states voluntarily contribute additional funds to support international trade research and analysis, legislative liaison, and export promotion.CCI’s staff in Washington, D.C., London, Seoul and Hong Kong, as well as contractors elsewhere in Asia, Latin America and Europe, use promotional resources from U.S. and foreign industry partners to reach 1 billion current and potential customers in 50 countries.
Markets are targeted, opportunities and barriers identified and strategies designed to maintain loyal customers, capture new ones and expand world consumption of cotton.
The arsenal of market development tools includes retail promotions, product licensing agreements, trade shows and energetic trade servicing to identify new customers.
For more information on the Cotton Council International Program and the Cotton USA trademark you can follow up at http://www.cottonusa.org .
For Best Results, Let’s "Boll" Together
CI’s and CCI’s technical service and promotion
activities—the trade fairs, retail promotions and
advertising campaigns, the executive delegations and trade
missions—work hand in hand to bring our overseas buyers in
touch with U.S. cotton and cotton products.
Both organizations plan to continue to focus on building relationships, one buyer at a time, to ensure a solid future for U.S. cotton and cotton products around the world.
In their efforts on behalf of U.S. cotton producers across the globe, Cotton Incorporated and the Cotton Council International joins the following groups in promoting U.S. cotton around the world:
The author is a senior marketing specialist with the FAS Cotton, Oilseeds, Tobacco and Seeds Division in Washington, D.C. Tel:(202) 720-0139; Fax (202) 720-0965; E-mail: Cougat@fas.usda.gov
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