As mentioned two weeks ago, this year’s International Cotton Advisory Committee (ICAC) Meeting will
take place October 7-12 at the Congress Centre Kursaal Interlaken, in Switzerland. The theme of the
congress is “Shaping Sustainability in the Cotton Value Chain.” Over the next few weeks, the Rupp
Report will focus on this event with a selection of issues related to the congress agenda. This
week, the eye is on Switzerland and its organizing committee.

Long Tradition

Switzerland has a very long tradition in the entire textile business. From the past,
insiders divided the country into five basic sectors: silk, cotton, embroidery, narrow fabrics, and
chemicals and finishing. For centuries, Switzerland, and mainly the Zurich area with all its silk
spinners and weavers around Lake Zurich, was the center of the global silk trade, up to the 1980s,
when the Chinese started to trade silk on their own and that silk became a commodity.

Cotton was located in the old town of St. Gallen. After the Industrial Revolution began in
Britain, the Swiss cotton spinners discovered hydropower. They placed countless spinning mills
along countless rivers throughout the region of the mid and eastern part of Switzerland. Most of
those mills have disappeared today.

Embroidery goes along with cotton. St. Gallen is still the center of embroidery in
Switzerland. Most of the embroidered fabrics, which can be seen on the high fashion catwalks around
the globe, are coming from St. Gallen.

The ribbon and narrow fabrics industry settled with the arrival of the French Huguenots in
the cantons of Basel and Aargau, where some of them are still producing narrow fabrics and ribbons.
The early expression for ribbons was “passements,” so the people were called “passementiers.”

Last, but not least, are chemicals and, consequently, finishing. This industry started
centuries ago near or in the town of Basel, where some either still have their headquarters or have
moved recently to Singapore. Most of these companies started their businesses with chemicals and
dyestuffs for textile dyeing.

Today, Switzerland is still among the biggest suppliers of high quality textile machinery,
and its machinery is recognized for its reliability and excellent price/quality ratio.

Host Country

But these historic facts are not the only reasons for hosting the 71st ICAC meeting in
Interlaken: It’s more that the issues to be discussed at the event go along with the people’s
increasing environmental consciousness. On top of that, Switzerland has developed a quite
successful business sector with sustainable textile products in some department stores and retail
shops. Or, as Marie-Gabrielle Ineichen-Fleisch – state secretary of the State Secretariat for
Economic Affairs (SECO), and a member of the co-organizing committee – said: “What has started as
real experimental pioneer work has become a matter of course – for enterprises as well as
consumers. In order to advance this case and to share experiences, we wish to follow up during the
ICAC conference in Interlaken on previous discussions on sustainability that have taken place over
the past years.”

Ineichen-Fleisch also mentioned another reason SECO became active in this sector: “The
potential for sustainability in the cotton value chain is also the reason why Switzerland addresses
the issue as an element of the work of the Economic Cooperation and Development Division of the
SECO. The aim of these cotton related activities is to improve livelihoods and thus contribute to
poverty alleviation in developing countries and countries in transition through trade promotion.”

Set And Improve Framework Conditions

According to SECO, one approach toward reaching the goal is to set and improve framework
conditions. In this regard, SECO is engaged through Geneva-based IDEAS Centre to support the Cotton
4 — comprising the African countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Chad and Mali — in order to strengthen
their negotiation capacity and, therefore, to better defend their interests in the Doha Development
Round, as only the informed and effective influence on cotton subsidy programs may contribute to
reaching acceptable cotton price levels. IDEAS is an independent nonprofit organization that
provides support to low-income countries to help them integrate into the world trading system.

Another approach is to strengthen competitiveness of cotton market participants through
differentiation of the products because this supports better integration into the world market. In
this regard, SECO works along the cotton supply chain to implement private voluntary sustainability
systems. SECO has been a leading supporter of fair trade and organic production, and it has helped
to introduce sustainable consumption and production patterns through projects in Kyrgyzstan and
West Africa, working in cooperation with Switzerland-based nongovernmental organization (NGO)
Helvetas Swiss to develop sustainable cotton value chains.

The program has benefited approximately 10,000 cotton farmers in the partner countries by
providing increased incomes, improved working conditions and an improved social infrastructure in
their villages. In addition to supporting niche market sustainability systems, SECO has long
supported the establishment among multiple stakeholders of sustainability initiatives and
roundtables for agricultural commodities.

SECO also contributes to the Better Cotton Initiative (BCI), which aims to bring
sustainability into the mainstream in the cotton value chain. During the 2011-12 season, BCI and
its partners worked with 125,000 cotton farmers in Brazil, India, Pakistan and West Africa. The
initiative also is involved in activities in China, and many other countries have expressed an
interest in participating in its program.

Let’s give Ineichen-Fleisch the final words in this Rupp Report: “As a host, we believe that
Interlaken will be the perfect place to discuss and try out new forms of dialogue: small and
scenic, situated between mountains and lakes, this venue will help us to focus and have a frank
exchange of views. We also hope that new stakeholders will take the opportunity to join in and
enrich our discussions.”

ICAC

The International Cotton Advisory Committee (ICAC), based in Washington, was founded in
1939. At that time, global cotton stocks totaled nearly 25 million bales, more than half of which
were located in the United States. ICAC states its mission is “to assist governments in fostering a
healthy world cotton economy. The role of the ICAC is to raise awareness, to provide information
and to serve as a catalyst for cooperative action on issues of international significance.”

September 4, 2012

Glen Raven Custom Fabrics — a division of Glen Raven, N.C.-based Glen Raven Inc. — is investing $10
million to open a specialty Sunbrella® yarn plant in Burlington, N.C., and will add 30 jobs in the
process. The company reports it is opening the plant in response to increasing demand it has seen
for Sunbrella fabrics woven with specialty yarn colors and constructions.

“Sunbrella brand fabrics are design-driven, which requires new colors and new specialty yarn
blends with every season,” said Randy Blackston, vice president of operations, Glen Raven Custom
Fabrics. “This new yarn plant will enhance our ability to meet the market’s growing demand for
Sunbrella fabrics in fashion-oriented colors and styles.”

The company is retrofitting a 130,000-square-foot facility that previously housed its Ultra
Spun division operations. The new Burlington Yarn plant — which is similar to Glen Raven’s
Sunbrella® plant in Anderson, S.C., and which is expected to open in late summer 2013 — will be
equipped with a modular, highly automated yarn manufacturing system that features lean
manufacturing processes and state-of-the-art air handling systems, according to the company. Yarns
produced at the plant will be sent to Glen Raven’s Anderson fabric facility to be woven into
Sunbrella fabrics.

“While our Anderson, S.C., and Norlina, N.C., Sunbrella yarn facilities are highly flexible
and capable of supporting a broad array of yarn and fabric SKUs, our new plant will take this quick
change capability to an entirely new level,” Blackston said. “The process of design engineering and
machine selection began two years ago and will result in a unique operation focused on specialty,
blended and novelty yarns for Sunbrella fabrics.”

Glen Raven will transfer 50 employees currently working at its Burlington Link Spinning
facility — which it is making plans to repurpose — to the Burlington Yarn plant, and also will add
30 new positions to the workforce.

September 4, 2012

U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) Ron Kirk was in Cambodia and Vietnam last week to attend meetings
of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) economic ministers; the inaugural U.S.-ASEAN
Business Summit; a meeting with Cambodian Economic Minister Cham Prasidh; and meetings with
Vietnamese President Truong Tan Sang, Deputy Prime Minister Vu Van Ninh and other senior Vietnamese
officials.

Cambodia hosted the ASEAN meetings, following which Kirk stressed the Obama administration’s
commitment to furthering strong trade and investment relationships between the United States and
the ASEAN region.

“The United States’ commitment to the ASEAN region is long-term,” Kirk said. “The ASEAN
countries together are already a major trading partner for the United States, but we — and the
American business community — see enormous potential to grow our mutual trade and investment as
ASEAN pursues its own objectives of liberalizing trade in the region, harnessing the digital
economy and reducing economic disparities among its members.”

After meeting with Cham, Kirk announced that the United States and Cambodia would explore
the possibility of entering into a bilateral investment treaty that would provide investors with
enhanced market access, various protections from harmful government treatment and a binding
arbitration mechanism in cases of breaches of the treaty.

“A bilateral investment treaty between the United States and Cambodia would encourage
investment by improving investment climates, promoting market-based economic reforms, and
strengthening the rule of law,” Kirk said. “Our decision to explore this possibility highlights
progress made by Cambodia in fostering a policy environment that treats private investment in an
open, transparent, and non-discriminatory way.”

Kirk then met with government officials in Vietnam to discuss the U.S.-Vietnamese bilateral
trade and investment relationship; issues concerning the Trans-Pacific Partnership regional trade
agreement that is being negotiated among the United States, Vietnam and seven other countries
around the Pacific Rim; and goals for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum taking place this
week in Vladivostok, Russia.

“The bilateral relationship between the United States and Vietnam has grown rapidly into a
robust and mutually beneficial one. We have the opportunity to further this relationship
significantly by quickly resolving concerns such as the further opening of Vietnam’s market to U.S.
beef and other bilateral issues, and more broadly by working together to rapidly conclude the
Trans-Pacific Partnership,” Kirk said. “Now is the time to make the decisions necessary to bring
the TPP to fruition as a high-standard, 21st-century agreement that will benefit all partners. I am
pleased that Vietnam shares our eagerness to make progress at this month’s round of talks.”

The 14th round of TPP negotiations will be held September 6-15 in Leesburg, Virginia.

September 4, 2012

Alvanon Inc. — a New York City-based developer of integrated body fit solutions for the apparel
industry — is providing various garment sizing and fit tools to Italy-based fashion brand United
Colors of Benetton for use in designing and manufacturing apparel that better fits its customers.

AlvaInsight, Alvanon’s consumer research division, has provided new and validated core body
data profiles of the brand’s target customers in the United States, Europe and Asia; and will use
the data to create AlvaForm Studio technical fit mannequins that United Colors of Benetton will use
to achieve consistent fit practices. Alvanon also will provide garment grade rule development tools
that will enable the company to standardize fit across its size ranges.

September 4, 2012

The Hohenstein Institute — a Germany-based textile research and testing laboratory with offices
worldwide — has partnered with technical textiles manufacturer Rökona Textilwerk GmbH and
Reutlingen University, both based in Germany, to develop new methods for measuring the acoustic
properties of textiles used in industrial, automotive and construction applications as well as in
hunting and military gear and apparel.

According to Hohenstein, the new testing procedures will enable manufacturers to
cost-effectively test fabrics in a range of conditions to determine both sound-absorption and
noise-generating properties. Testers and product designers may analyze the data obtained to specify
the cause of undesired noise and facilitate product design optimization prior to production.

“Textiles are used extensively to protect people from sound waves which can damage hearing
or distract people during concentration-intense activities such as in industrial, automotive, and
military settings,” said Dr. Jan Beringer, Hohenstein Institute, who headed the research efforts.
“However, quantifying the noise that the textiles themselves generate is equally important,
especially in applications where unwanted noise can hinder success. We now have a cost-effective
method for measuring both factors.”

August 28, 2012

GlenGuard Hi-Vis® Anti-Stat mesh fabric, manufactured by Glen Raven, N.C.-based Glen Raven
Technical Fabrics LLC and marketed by Greensboro, N.C.-based Performance Textiles Inc., is now
being used by Lakeland Industries Inc., a Ronkonkoma, N.Y.-based manufacturer of protective
apparel, to make breathable, flame resistant, antistatic, high-visibility work vests. The fabric
complies with ANSI 107, ASTM F1506, NFPA 70-E and several other standards; and offers protection
against static electricity.

“The breathability of a mesh fabric is important to the comfort of workers required to wear a
work vest in high temperatures, but meeting high visibility test standards in a breathable mesh
fabric is not easy to do,” said Tom Sebastian, market development manager, Lakeland Industries,
adding, “For people who work where volatile gases are present, protective clothing that meets the
needs for high visibility and flame resistance may not be enough. Providing static control in these
work garments affords an added level of protection to address an additional type of hazard.”

The engineered fabric is based on carbon fiber technology to help prevent static electricity
buildup, thereby avoiding the danger of igniting ambient flammable gases. According to Glen Raven,
the carbon core fiber used in the fabric has a weaker corona discharge than conventional conductive
yarns, and therefore significantly reduces the level of static electric energy and the possibility
of igniting ambient gases in the work environment. A polyester sheath covers the carbon fiber core
to provide protection from abrasion and possible damage from laundering.

August 28, 2012