This year at our Las Vegas 2022 trade event, the ICA introduced a new award, intended to recognise outstanding service by our members who go the extra mile to contribute to the greater good of the industry and their peers in the Association, without a thought for their own reward or advancement.

Nominations were sought from across the members, in more than 50 countries, and the unanimous decision earlier this year was that the first recipient of this award should be Andrew Macdonald, who sadly passed away in January 2022.

The community expressed a strong case for Andrew to be acknowledged for this award. The decades of dedication he gave to the ICA, serving as ICA President from 2003-2004 as well as being an active member of the ICA Board, Arbitration Strategy Committee and Rules Committee, amongst many others.

Andrew was one of the lead driving forces in transitioning the Liverpool Cotton Association to the International Cotton Association that we have become today. And he was committed to ensuring the ICA Rules were equitable in the modern cotton trade.

It was felt that his support, encouragement and leadership in the cotton community and in the ICA in particular deserves this special recognition.

There was another individual who our members recognised has provided outstanding service to the ICA, and this was Jamie Welsh.

Jamie has been a long standing member of the ICA Rules Committee and the Arbitration Strategy Committee, which he Chaired from 2012 until last year. His work in guiding the Arbitration Strategy Committee and his extensive cooperation on related working groups has consumed huge amounts of time. This work has gained the respect of his peers and the changes wrought in his time have been substantial and significant. Following his resignation as chair, he continues to serve on these committees and frequently volunteers to undertake working group meetings.

Jamie is also widely respected as a leading cotton arbitrator throughout the world. He even produced a course of on-line lectures that have now become almost obligatory for anyone wanting to proceed to become an ICA arbitrator. He has frequently lectured on arbitration topics, without a fee, and visited places such as Bangladesh to support the ‘safe-trading’ message of the ICA.

Thank you to all  ICA members who nominated.