Three African cotton-producing countries called on the European Union on Thursday to do more to cut cotton subsidies as part of a new push for a global free trade deal, but Brussels said its hands were tied.
Ministers from Mali, Burkina Faso and Uganda said US subsidies posed a bigger problem for millions of African farmers dependent on cotton, but Europe could still cut its aid further.
"Europe produces very little cotton but this is a global problem and it requires a global solution," Malian Trade Minister Ba Fatoumata Nene Sy said after meeting EU officials. Greece and Spain are the only EU countries where cotton farmers still get significant subsidies, which are worth a total of about 275 million euros ($402 million) a year.
The EU reformed its cotton subsidies in 2004, removing the link between production and aid for most of the sector. It says its cotton payments have a negligible effect on global trade.