Abbreviations

Unless otherwise specified, all references to dollars ($) and cents are to United States dollars and cents.
All references to tons are to metric tons. The term ‘billion’ denotes 1 thousand million.

The following abbreviations are used:

AFIS
Advanced Fibre Information System
APTMA
All Pakistan Textile Mills Association
ASCU
Agricultural Sales Cooperative Union (Turkey)
ASTM
American Society for Testing and Materials International
B/L
Bill of lading
BM&F
Bolsa de Mercadorias e Futuros (Brazil)
BTMA
Bangladesh Textile Mills Association
CCI
Cotton Corporation of India
CDB
Cotton Development Board (Bangladesh)
CFA
Communauté financière africaine
CFR
Cost and freight
CFS
Container freight station
CFTC
Commodity Futures Trading Commission (United States)
CICCA
Committee for International Co-operation between Cotton Associations
CIF
Cost, insurance and freight
CIQ
China Entry-Exit Inspection and Quarantine
CIS
Commonwealth of Independent States
CL
Confidence level
CMA
Collateral management agreement
CNCE
China National Cotton Exchange
CNCRC
China National Cotton Reserves Corporation
CNY
Chinese yuan
COT
Commitment of traders
CSCE
 Coffee, Sugar and Cocoa Exchange
CSR
Corporate social responsibility
CV
Coefficient of variance
DDA
Doha Development Agenda
DFQF
Duty-free quota-free
ECR
European Cotton Rules
EDI
Electronic data interchange
EFP
Exchange of futures for physicals
EFS
Exchange for swaps
EICA
East India Cotton Association
ELS
Extra long staple
EU
European Union
EUR
Euros
EWR
Electronic Warehouse Receipt
FAS
Free alongside ship
FCA
Free carrier
FCFA
Franc communauté financière africaine
FCL
Full container load
FLO
Fairtrade Labelling Organizations International
FOB
Free on board
FOT
Free on truck
FTZ
Free trade zone
GAP
South-east Anatolian Project (Turkey)
GBP
United Kingdom pounds
GDP
Gross domestic product
GM
Genetically modified
GOTS
Global Organic Textile Standards
GSP
Generalized System of Preferences
H&M
 Hennes & Mauritz
HPLC
High-performance liquid chromatography
HS
Harmonized System
HVI
High Volume Instrument
ICA
International Cotton Association
ICAC
International Cotton Advisory Committee
ICE
Intercontinental Exchange
ICM
Integrated crop management
ICT
Information and communication technology
IDR
Indonesian rupiahs
IFCP
International Forum for Cotton Promotion
IFOAM
International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements
IIC
International Institute for Cotton
IME
Izmir Mercantile Exchange
IMO
International Maritime Organization
IPM
Integrated pest management
ISO
International Organization for Standardization
ITMF
International Textile Manufacturers Federation
IVN
Internationaler Verband der Naturtextilwirtschaft (Germany)
JAS
Japan Agricultural Standard
JOCA
Japan Organic Cotton Association
L/C
Letter of credit
LCL
Less than container load
LDC
Least developed country
LS
Long staple
LUI
Length uniformity index
MFN
Most-favoured nation
ML
Mean length
M&S
 Marks & Spencer
MMF
Man-made fibre
NCDEX
National Commodity and Derivatives Exchange (India)
NGO
Non-governmental organization
NIR
Near infra-red
NOP
National Organic Program (United States)
NYBOT
New York Board of Trade
NYCC
New York Clearing Corporation
NYCE
New York Cotton Exchange
OE
Open-end
OFS
Options on futures spreads
OTA
Organic Trade Association (United States)
PTBF
Price to be fixed
PTS
Primary textile sector
RMG
Ready-made garments
SDPC
State Development and Planning Commission (China)
SDRC
State Development and Reform Commission (China)
SEM
Scanning electron microscope
SFC
Short fibre content
SG
Saw-ginned
SITC
Standard Instrument Testing
SLM
Strict low middling
SMEs
Small and medium-sized enterprises
TEU
20-foot equivalent unit
THC
Terminal handling charges
UCP
Uniform Customs and Practice for Documentary Credits
UHML
Upper half mean length
UNCTAD
United Nations Conference on Trade and Development
USDA
 United States Department of Agriculture
USDA/AMS
United States Department of Agriculture
UV
Ultra-violet
VAT
Value added tax
VSA
Vessel sharing arrangements
WR
Warehouse receipt
WRS
Warehouse receipts system
WTO
World Trade Organization
ZCE
Zhengzhou Commodity Exchange (China)