KHUJAND, May 7, 2009, Asia-Plus  -- Expected additional gains from sale of last year’s cotton harvest may amount to 500,000 U.S. dollars in northern Tajikistan, Ghafurjon Toshev, general manager of the lab of closed joint-stock company Tajikistan-WIS (Wakefield Inspection Services), said in an interview with Asia-Plus.

According to him, it has become possible due to determining Tajik cotton fiber in accordance with international practice.  “Of 28,609 tons of cotton fiber of last year’s cotton harvest, more than 20,000 tons have been assessed in accordance with new standards (ST RT - 1085 - 2007) and 67 percent of the assessed cotton fibers have met the highest international standards of GM and SM,” Toshev said.

In this connection, Sughd cotton farmers now may make up to 24.00 dollars more from each ton of cotton fiber, the general manager said.  “Improvement of the quality of work of cotton-ginning factories could allow farmers gaining additional profit of up to 80.00 dollars from each ton of cotton,” he said. 

CJSC Tajikistan-WIS (Wakefield Inspection Services) is the Tajik-British joint venture.  It was established by government’s resolution of October 3 2006.  Working under international standards, the enterprise grants certificate of conformance for cotton fiber.

Wakefield Inspection Services, a world leader in the cotton controlling industry, has established the standard for reliability and quality in global inspections.  Its worldwide network of independent Wakefield offices and correspondents serve all major cargo points.