DO YOU WANNA BE IN OUR GANG?
Trade and politics bring together the strangest of bedfellows. The World Trade Organisation can be
divided into a diverse array of factions, most of which no longer add up because of attrition or addition to their member bases. The ACP group of African, Caribbean and Pacific countries, for instance, used to be known as the G77 but today counts just 56 members. The G10 has only nine members, and the G20 has 21. In fact Only the G7 adds up with just seven members.
Nor is the list presented here by any means complete. There are also the 11 FANs (Friends of Antidumping), which, unusually, include both China and Taiwan. The FIPs or 'Quint' joins Australia, Brazil, the EU, India and the US as they strive to break the impasse on agriculture.
The ITCB brings together 20 WTO developing countries with strong textile sectors, while the GRULAC group of Latin American WTO members takes the prize for having the best name. Finally, there are the RAMs block of 'recently acceded members' led by Albania, Croatia, Georgia, Jordan, Moldova and Oman on matters related to agriculture.
The poorer the countries, the bigger their groupings as they seek strength in numbers and strive to present a united front against the developed world. The newest and most important developing block is the G20, which counts Brazil, China and India as its leading members.
The G20 is crucial because it sits at the intersection of the developed and developing worlds. All are, in some respects, profoundly poor. In others, they are major economic powers. Their exporting prowess is feared - and their markets coveted - by developed world economies.
Over its first three days, the Hong Kong ministerial conference has been notable for the intense
squabbling between the European Union and United States, despite fundamentally common
interest on industrial goods and services. The developing world, meanwhile, has managed to largely refrain from any unseemly outbursts of internecine warfare, potentially strengthening their hand as
the meeting enters its most crucial period.
G90
64 members
Groups ACP (African, Caribbean and Pacific) member countries with the world's poorest nations or LDCs (least developed countries)
ACPs
56 members
Grouping of African, Carribean and Pacific countries. All are beneficiaries of the EU's everything-but-arms initiative, giving them quota and tariff free market access with some exceptions. Pact was sealed by the Lome Treaty, also known as the Cotonou Agreement
G33
42 members
Also concerned with agriculture. Want better access to developed markets but also insist on special-product xemptions for their own farm sectors. Sometimes referred to as 'Friends of Special Products'
G20
21 members
Developing nations group demanding agriculture reform from rich world countries, especially with regards to subsidies and export support
G10
9 members
Common position on agriculture, which they want exempted because of specific non-trade concerns
G7
7 members
Group of seven leading industrial countries.G7 + Russia (which is not a WTO member) = G8
New Quad
3 members
Four of the world's top six trading powers ? developed and developing ? exclusive of China and Japan
Old Quad
3members
Sub-grouping of major developed world economies.
When the New Quad gets together with the Old Quad they are known as the G6
C4
4 members
Union of impoverished West African cotton producers. Main dispute is with the US over subsidies to its cotton markets
African Group
41 members
Comprises the WTO's African members: Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo, Congo (Democratic Republic), Cote d'Ivoire, Djibouti, Egypt, Gabon, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Kenya, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Togo, Tunisia, Uganda, Zambia,
Cairns Group
17 members
Major agricultural exporters: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Fiji, Guatemala, Indonesia, Malaysia, New Zealand, Paraguay, Philippines, South Africa, Thailand, Uruguay
