FACTBOX-Negotiating alliances in the WTO's Doha round

REUTERS
Reuters North American News Service

Jul 18, 2008 11:10 EDT

July 18 (Reuters) - Various alliances have formed within the 152 governments negotiating a new global trade pact, which ministers are seeking to push towards conclusion next week.

Following is a description of the main blocs and their basic positions in a World Trade Organisation (WTO) accord known as the Doha round. The approximately 30 ministers who will meet in Geneva will represent these interests.

The groups' members change frequently and their names do not correspond exactly to their ranks -- the G-10 has 9 members, the G-20 has 22 members, and the G-33 has 46 members, for example.

CAIRNS GROUP: Agricultural exporters, with low subsidies, seeking radical agricultural reform in both developed and developing markets

-- Argentina, Australia, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Indonesia, Malaysia, New Zealand, Pakistan, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, South Africa, Thailand, Uruguay

COTTON 4: Cotton producers seeking cuts in U.S. subsidies

-- Benin, Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali

GROUP OF 10 (G-10): Food importers stressing the importance of "non-trade concerns" in agriculture, such as environmental issues and rural community development. Often have high protective tariffs

-- Iceland, Israel, Japan, Liechtenstein, Mauritius, Norway, South Korea, Switzerland, Taiwan

GROUP OF 20 (G-20): Coalition of developing countries taking aim at developed countries' farm subsidies and tariffs

-- Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, China, Cuba, Egypt, Guatemala, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, South Africa, Tanzania, Thailand, Uruguay, Venezuela, Zimbabwe

GROUP OF 33 (G-33): Developing-country group, including several dependent on subsistence agriculture, focused on securing exceptions to agricultural tariff cuts through special products and the special safeguard mechanism. Also known as the "friends of special products":

-- Antigua, Barbados, Belize, Benin, Bolivia, Botswana, China, Congo, Cote d'Ivoire, Cuba, Dominica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Grenada, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, India, Indonesia, Jamaica, Kenya, Madagascar, Mauritius, Mongolia, Mozambique, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Pakistan, Panama, Peru, Philippines, St Kitts and Nevis, St Lucia, St Vincent, Senegal, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Suriname, Tanzania, Trinidad, Turkey, Uganda, Venezuela, Zambia, Zimbabwe

NAMA ELEVEN: Emerging economies resisting calls to throw open their manufacturing sectors to competition under a deal in manufactured goods, known in WTO parlance as NAMA for "Non-Agricultural Market Access"

-- Argentina, Brazil, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Namibia, Philippines, South Africa, Tunisia and Venezuela

TROPICAL AND ALTERNATIVE PRODUCTS GROUP: Latin American producers wanting faster, better access for their farming exports in foreign markets

-- Bolivia, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, Venezuela

SMALL AND VULNERABLE ECONOMIES: Small-island and tiny states who would get special leeway in a deal on tariff and other cuts

-- This group has a slightly different composition for farming and industrial goods talks. In both cases it includes: Barbados, Bolivia, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Fiji, Guatemala, Honduras, Mongolia, Nicaragua, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, and Trinidad

LEAST DEVELOPED COUNTRIES (LDCs): Poor countries exempt from the bulk of industrial tariff and other cuts under a Doha deal

-- Angola, Bangladesh, Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cambodia, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo, Djibouti, Gambia, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Haiti, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Maldives, Mali, Mauritania, Mozambique, Myanmar, Nepal , Niger, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Solomon Islands, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia

AFRICAN GROUP: Africa's WTO members

-- Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo, 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, Zimbabwe

AFRICAN, CARRIBEAN AND PACIFIC (ACP) GROUP: Coalition of former European colonies and poor states pitted against Latin American producers over the Europe Union's banana tariffs

-- Angola, Antigua, Barbados, Belize, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo, Cote d'Ivoire, Djibouti, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Fiji, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Grenada, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Kenya, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Papua New Guinea, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Solomon Islands, South Africa, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent, Surinam, Swaziland, Tanzania, Togo, Trinidad, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe

GROUP OF 90 (G-90): Includes the African Group, ACP and LDCs

-- Angola, Antigua, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belize, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cambodia, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo, Côte d'Ivoire, Cuba, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Djibouti, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Egypt, Fiji, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Grenada, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Kenya, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Maldives, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Morocco, Mozambique, Myanmar, Namibia, Nepal, Niger, Nigeria, Papua New Guinea, Rwanda, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Solomon Islands, South Africa, Suriname, Swaziland, Tanzania, Togo, Trinidad, Tunisia, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe

RECENTLY-ACCEDED MEMBERS: Governments who already agreed significant tariff and other cuts upon joining the WTO, and who would get special treatment under a Doha deal to reflect that

-- Albania, Armenia, Bulgaria, China, Croatia, Ecuador, Georgia, Macedonia, Jordan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Mongolia, Oman, Panama, Saudi Arabia, Taiwan, Tonga, Ukraine, Vietnam (Compiled by Laura MacInnis; Editing by Jonathan Lynn)

Source: Reuters North American News Service