1. Counter-cyclical payments refer to subsidies that are transferred when the price of cotton drops through a specified threshold (since 2002, $0.72 per pound). The USDA has described such payments as forming a 'safety net', but since the transfer is linked to the price falling to a set level, they are classified as being part of the Amber Box in the AoA (support measures linked to trade distortion and subject to removal). Loan deficiency payments are triggered when world prices fall below $0.52 per pound. The further the prices fall below that level, the more they increase;farmers use their land for agricultural purposes, and yet this must not be for cultivating fruits, vegetables or other crops,2004