What is the mission of AFCOT ?

Its principal objective is to represent and to defend the interests of cotton professionals, whatever the size of the company, its sector of activity, or its geographical location.

The purpose of the European Cotton Rules (E.C.R) which appeared in 1877 under the name ‘Règlement Général du Havre’ is to define the meaning of clauses incorporated in a contract which has been concluded on the basis of European Cotton Rules (E.C.R) and to clearly indicate what are the rights and obligations to which the seller and the buyer are subject.

The European Cotton Rules (E.C.R) is an essential tool at the disposal of both buyers and sellers.

Find the seven specific rules in Appendix VI of the RGE AFCOT.

• Rule 1 : Invoicing back
• Rule 2 : Force majeure
• Rule 3 : Arbitration rules for claims exceeding 100.000 euros
• Rule 3.1 : Arbitration rules for claims not exceeding 100.000 euros
• Rule 4 : Dispute on quality of cotton (manual classing)
• Rule 4-1 : Dispute on quality of cotton (Instrument classing)
• Rule 5 : Confidentiality of arbitration

• Appendix VI 2021

For AFCOT, arbitration is the ultimate solution in an extreme case.

AFCOT intervenes only in the form of advice, at the request of its members. The AFCOT Executive Committee proposes a non-exhaustive list of commercial arbitrators.

This list is available to any party for the appointment of his arbitrator. It is neither limiting nor exhaustive, since it in no way limits the total freedom of choice of the parties to the dispute.

AFCOT having opted to rely on a support judge in the event of difficulties encountered in the constitution of the arbitral tribunal, this list was sent to the president of the Le Havre tribunal of commerce.

See the 2019 commercial arbitrators’ directory

Arbitrators operating in disputes over cotton quality

As part of the procedure provided for in Appendix VI – Rule 4 of the EGM, the AFCOT Executive Committee approved on March 11, 2019, the following list of quality arbitrators :

• Mr Paul-Henri AHOUSSOU (ECOM)
• Mr Curt ARBENZ (Paul REINHART)
• Mr Pascal DESMET (ED. T Robertson & Son)
• Mr Jean Pierre HERREMAN (DEVCOT)
• Mr Thierry LENORMAND (SOSEA)
• Mr Loïc PELFRESNE (Société Imporation & de Commission)
• Mr Juan PEREZ (Cotton Distributors)

Experience shows that there are sometimes difficulties between sellers and buyers about executing contracts, when these are not written with the utmost care and precision. That’s why we want to draw the parties’ attention to the importance of ensuring that their contract :

• Contain all the clauses necessary for the proper execution
• Repeat all the general clauses, and especially those retained at the conclusion of the contract
• Be written in such a way that the interpretation of the clauses can not be open to discussion
• Be subject to ECR AFCOT

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