This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations .(July 2012) |
The International Cotton Association (ICA) is a trade association and arbitral body that operates on a not-for-profit basis in the commodity of cotton.
Formerly the Liverpool Cotton Association, it was formed in 1841 in Liverpool, UK, by a group of cotton brokers who created a set of trading rules to regulate the sale and purchase of raw cotton. [1]
The ICA is made up of member firms or individuals from the international cotton supply chain.
It is one of the founding members of CICCA (Committee for International Cooperation between Cotton Associations) [2] and has established partnerships with other global cotton associations including the China Cotton Association, Bremen Baumwollboerse [3] and the Gdynia Cotton Association. [4]
The ICA has two primary functions (the ICA Bylaws and Rules [5] and an arbitration service) and it provides support facilities that include training, trade events, networking forums and cotton testing through a joint venture company (ICA Bremen).
The Bylaws and Rules were created in 1863 to regulate the sale and purchase of raw cotton. They can be applied to contracts covering the purchase and sale of cotton between any two companies anywhere in the world. They are updated in line with current industry practice and are published in a variety of languages: the most recent edition was published in January 2023. [6] The Bylaws are binding on members and are incorporated in all member cotton contracts, while the Rules may be changed by agreement between the buyer and the seller in any deal. [7]
If cotton is traded under ICA Bylaws and Rules, parties have the right to apply for ICA arbitration in the event of a contract dispute. The service is impartial and internationally recognised. ICA arbitration awards can be enforced in foreign courts under international law, following an agreement made in New York on 10 June 1958 (The Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards).
In 2011, the ICA’s archive collection was catalogued and re-housed at the Liverpool Record Office. Described by Dr Tony Webster, Head of History at Liverpool John Moores University, as "one of the most valuable business resources in the city", the collection contains the history of the evolution of the ICA and the cotton industry. The complete collection from 1798 to 2004 is available online as part of the archive catalogue at the Liverpool Record Office. An abridged version appears below:
The first recorded cotton dealing in Liverpool was a newspaper advertisement for an auction of 28 bags of Jamaican cotton in 1759. Over the next seven decades the Industrial Revolution brought major changes to cotton production. Liverpool enjoyed a physical proximity to the world centre of the industry – the Lancashire cotton towns. [8] It also had well-established trading links with the new powerhouse of raw cotton - the USA. As imports soared to the million-bale mark, Liverpool overtook London as the country’s leading cotton importer. [1]
Major improvement to transport and communication systems brought crucial developments. The railways reduced the time and cost of travel and improved reliability in transporting cotton to the Lancashire towns. [8] The Liverpool Cotton Brokers’ Association was established in 1841 and it quickly established a successful system of arbitration. The Transatlantic telegraph cable reduced long distance communication from weeks to minutes. Liverpool broker John Rew recognised the far-reaching implications of this development and created the hedge fund system. This led to the hugely successful Liverpool Cotton Futures Market, which doubled the business of the Liverpool Cotton Market. In 1911-12 Liverpool imported 5,230,399 bales of cotton. [1]
The First World War was a turning point for the Lancashire cotton industry and the Liverpool Cotton Market. The demand for cotton in India and China was now being met by the cotton mills of Japan and India. Lancashire could not compete with their cheaper labour and products. Its Far East market collapsed and cotton imports to Liverpool halved. Further problems came with the decimation of the American crop of 1921 by the ravages of the boll weevil. The Wall Street Crash of 1929 brought with it the Great Depression and the effect on the Liverpool cotton market was severe: in 1931 Liverpool’s cotton imports were at their lowest for 62 years. [1]
The Second World War sealed the Liverpool Cotton Market’s fate. U-boat attacks and the bombing of ports and cities threatened cotton supplies and resulted in drastic action. The government took responsibility for purchase and distribution and the Liverpool Cotton Futures Market closed. After the War the Raw Cotton Commission became the sole importer and distributor of cotton. The Cotton Market reopened in 1954, but as a shadow of its former self. [1] In 1963 the Liverpool Cotton Association successfully reinvented itself and re-energised its membership, concentrating on the provision of specialist services such as arbitration. [9] The association became increasingly global in its outlook and this was reflected in its name change in 2004 to the International Cotton Association.
Under the Bylaws applicable contractually to all member cotton transactions, special arrangements are made for dealing with circumstances where a contract "has not been, or will not be performed". Where this arises, the contract is not cancelled but it is "invoiced back in accordance with the Rules in place at the date of the contract". [7] The practice of "invoicing back" has been described as "a source of contention" by the UK courts because the clause which enforce it takes no account of which party is responsible for the contractual non-performance. [10] Mr Justice Burton, in Dunavant Enterprises Inc. v Olympia Spinning and Weaving Mills Ltd. (2011), refers to a series of legal cases from 1911 onwards where there has been judicial criticism of invoicing back clauses. [10]
Calico is a heavy plain-woven textile made from unbleached, and often not fully processed, cotton. It may also contain unseparated husk parts. The fabric is far coarser than muslin, but less coarse and thick than canvas or denim. However, it is still very cheap owing to its unfinished and undyed appearance.
Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus Gossypium in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure cellulose, and can contain minor percentages of waxes, fats, pectins, and water. Under natural conditions, the cotton bolls will increase the dispersal of the seeds.
The Court of Arbitration for Sport is an international body established in 1984 to settle disputes related to sport through arbitration. Its headquarters are in Lausanne, Switzerland and its courts are located in New York City, Sydney, and Lausanne. Temporary courts are established in current Olympic host cities.
The Lancashire Cotton Famine, also known as the Cotton Famine or the Cotton Panic (1861–65), was a depression in the textile industry of North West England, brought about by overproduction in a time of contracting world markets. It coincided with the interruption of baled cotton imports caused by the American Civil War and speculators buying up new stock for storage in the shipping warehouses at the entrepôt. This, as well as causing cotton prices to rise in China, in which trade had been steadily increasing following the Second Opium War and during the ongoing Taiping Rebellion. The increase in cotton prices caused the textile trade to rapidly lose two-thirds of its previous value of exports to China from 1861-1862. The worldwide cotton famine also produced a boom in Cotton production in Egypt and Russian Turkestan.
The United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) is a subsidiary body of the U.N. General Assembly (UNGA) responsible for helping to facilitate international trade and investment.
International arbitration is arbitration between companies or individuals in different states, usually by including a provision for future disputes in a contract.
The Iran–United States Claims Tribunal (IUSCT) is an international arbitral tribunal established by the Algiers Accords, an international agreement between the U.S. and Iran embodied in two Declarations by the Government of the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria issued on 19 January 1981, to resolve the crisis in relations between the two countries arising out of incidents in U.S. embassy in Tehran.
James Bell was a British trade unionist and Labour Party politician who represented Ormskirk from 1918–22. He was described by a fellow union official as "one of the shrewdest negotiators the trade unions in the cotton industry had ever had."
Cottonopolis was a 19th-century nickname for Manchester, as it was a metropolis and the centre of the cotton industry.
The Manchester warehouse which we lately visited, was a building fit for the Town Hall of any respectable municipality; a stately, spacious, and tasteful edifice; rich and substantial as its respectable proprietors, the well-known firm of Banneret and Co. There are nearly a hundred such buildings in Manchester; –not so large, perhaps, for this is the largest; but all in their degree worthy of Cottonopolis.
Arbitration is a formal method of alternative dispute resolution (ADR) involving a neutral third party who makes a binding decision. The dispute will be decided by one or more persons, which renders the 'arbitration award'. An arbitration decision or award is legally binding on both sides and enforceable in the courts, unless all parties stipulate that the arbitration process and decision are non-binding.
An arbitral tribunal or arbitration tribunal, also arbitration commission, arbitration committee or arbitration council is a panel of unbiased adjudicators which is convened and sits to resolve a dispute by way of arbitration. The tribunal may consist of a sole arbitrator, or there may be two or more arbitrators, which might include a chairperson or an umpire. Members selected to serve on an arbitration panel are typically professionals with expertise in both law and in friendly dispute resolution (mediation). Some scholars have suggested that the ideal composition of an arbitration commission should include at least also one professional in the field of the disputed situation, in cases that involve questions of asset or damages valuation for instance an economist.
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) is a private American corporation that acts as a self-regulatory organization (SRO) that regulates member brokerage firms and exchange markets. FINRA is the successor to the National Association of Securities Dealers, Inc. (NASD) as well as to the member regulation, enforcement, and arbitration operations of the New York Stock Exchange. The U.S. government agency that acts as the ultimate regulator of the U.S. securities industry, including FINRA, is the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
William Dunavant Jr. was an American cotton industrialist.
The Great Depression in India was a period of economic depression in the Indian subcontinent, then under British colonial rule. Beginning in 1929 in the United States, the Great Depression soon began to spread to countries around the globe. A global financial crisis, combined with protectionist policies adopted by the colonial government resulted in a rapid increase in the price of commodities in British India. During the period 1929–1937, exports and imports in India fell drastically, crippling seaborne international trade in the region; the Indian railway and agricultural sectors were the most affected by the depression. Discontent from farmers resulted in riots and rebellions against colonial rule, while increasing Indian nationalism led to the Salt Satyagraha of 1930, in which Mahatma Gandhi undertook marches to the sea in order to protest against the British salt tax.
The Beijing Arbitration Commission (BAC) is an independent non-profit organization based in Beijing offering services in arbitration, mediation, and other dispute resolution mechanisms. The BAC was established in 1995 following the passage of the Arbitration Law of the People's Republic of China. In accordance with the theories of other ADR channels, the BAC encourages arbitration and mediation forums as "win-win" alternatives to litigation. The BAC serves both domestic and international clients. An article in Business China declared the Beijing Arbitration Commission (BAC) as "the only local arbitration commission which meets or surpasses global standards.”
The history of cotton can be traced to domestication for an important role in the history of India, the British Empire, and the United States, and continues to be an important crop and commodity.
Liverpool Cotton Exchange Building is an office block in Old Hall Street, Liverpool, Merseyside, England. The commercial building, which originally had a Neoclassical façade, replaced the 19th-century cotton exchange in Exchange Flags in 1906. Between 1967 and 1969 the building's exterior was given a contemporary mid 20th century design.
Ormrod and Hardcastle spinning and manufacturing firm began in 1788, with the partnership of James Ormrod and Thomas Hardcastle, and the purchase of the Flash Street mills in Bolton, Greater Manchester. These two men have been identified amongst the fathers of the early cotton trade in North West England. Others named are Carlisles, Gray, Knowles, Bulling, Crook and Culling. These names often figured prominently in the political, judicial and economic life of Bolton during its great period of growth, but sadly these names have been largely forgotten in the history of the cotton trade. By the time of their closure, in 1960, Ormrod and Hardcastle owned six large successful cotton mills in Bolton.
The Bremen Cotton Exchange was built in 1902 on the market square in Bremen, Germany, to house the offices of the city's cotton exchange founded in 1872. Johann Poppe's Neo-Renaissance facades and carefully finished interiors can still be seen today.
Sir Hardman Earle, 1st Baronet was a British railway director and slave owner. Earle owned plantations and enslaved people in what is now modern-day Guyana. He bought shares in the Liverpool to Manchester railway line and became a director of the company, which later amalgamated into the London and North Western Railway.
{{cite journal}}
: Cite journal requires |journal=
(help)