Switch to Better Quality Standard for Cotton

Tajikistan is switching the standard by which it measures cotton quality in the hope of getting a higher price for it. NBCentralAsia experts agree that the switch to international standards needs to be made, but warn that Tajikistan has neither the expertise nor the equipment to do so now.



A Tajik-British venture called Tajikistan-VIS is planning to open new laboratories this year to test the quality of Tajik cotton according to international standards, according to an Avesta news agency report last week.



Tajik cotton for export is currently assessed according to the “Uzbekistan standard”, which experts say sets a much lower quality requirement.



NBCentralAsia experts say that Tajik cotton should fetch a much higher price on the global market with an international seal of approval, but there is still a long way to go before Tajikistan has enough laboratory staff and equipment to be able to make the switch.



Tajikistan’s minister of agriculture and environmental protection, Abdurahmon Qodiri,told NBCentralAsia that Tajik cotton is of a much higher quality than the measure it is currently tested against.



“Uzbek standards don’t take all the parameter such as the strength of the crop strain into consideration. As a result our cotton is exported at a lower price,” he said.



In addition, the fact that most Tajik cotton is picked by hand rather than by harvesting machines means it is of better quality.



The minister said that identical cotton exported according to American standards is worth 80 US dollars more per ton, and if this applied to the Tajik product, the country’s revenue would jump by 15 million dollars a year.



Tajikistan produces up to 450,000 tons of raw cotton a year, and the commodity accounted for 8.5 per cent of exports in January-June this year.



Bobo Sanginov of the Agriculture Academy welcomed the raising of quality standards, saying that Tajik cotton might become on a par with the Egyptian product, one of the most expensive types.



At the same time, he warned that to make the transition, there is a need for well-equipped laboratories and skilled staff.



The Asian Development Bank recently allocated 1.7 million dollars to assist the transition to international cotton standards, and about 106,000 dollars will be spent on training lab staff.



At the moment, said Sanginov, even the best cotton fibre is sold at low prices because it still contains impurities and has not been dried properly, and is therefore classed as second- or third-grade.



An industry insider, who did not want to be named, said that because the processing plants are poorly equipped, it is going to be impossible to introduce international quality standards. For example, American cotton cannot contain more than 12 per cent moisture after it has been processed, but Tajik cotton holds far more than that because the drying process is inadequate.



“How can we move to international standards if our factories lack the equipment to comply with them?” he asked.



(News Briefing Central Asia draws comment and analysis from a broad range of political observers across the region.)