G90

The G90, otherwise known as the Group of 90, is an alliance between the poorest and smallest developing countries that are part of the World Trade Organization (WTO). The G90 emerged as a strong grouping at the WTO’s Ministerial conference at Cancun in September 2003, taking common positions representing the largest number of countries [1] , with 64 of the 90 countries in the G90 being members of the WTO. It is the largest trading body in the WTO, and it was formed as an umbrella body including the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group (ACP), the African Union, and the group of Least-Developed Countries (LDC).

Objectives

The driving force for the formation of the G90 was the lack of economic power faced by poor and small nations to enact resolutions in trade disputes, as envisioned by the WTO. G90 nations, unable to enforce or afford countervailaing measures, or compete with the subsidized economies of wealthier nations, formed the trade block in order to ensure a collective voice on issues of importance to landlocked and island economies, less developed countries, and commodity-dependent nations. Primarily, they want preferential domestic subsidies by the European Union and the United States to be removed in order to allow G90 products greater access to foreign markets.

Together with the G20 and the G33, the G90 aims to counter-balance the power of the United States and European economies in directing global trade, particularly with respect to negotiations over agricultural goods, upon which most of the G90 economies depend.

G90 Membership

* African Union/Group
* African, Caribbean and Pacific Group
* Least-Developed Countries: Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belize, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cambodia, Cameroon, Central African Republic,Chad, Republic of Congo, Côte d'Ivoire, Cuba, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Djibouti, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Egypt, Fiji, Gabon, Gambia,Ghana, Grenada, Guinea (Conakry), 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 and the Grenadines, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Solomon Islands, South Africa, Suriname, Swaziland, Tanzania, Togo, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe [2] .

References

* [1] "G90 Poor Countries Make Advances," [http://www.twnside.org.sg/title2/gtrends16.htm]
* [2] "the G-Guide Groupings in the WTO Agricultural Negotiations," [http://www.focusweb.org/main/html/Article661.html]

See also

* G8
* G20
* G33
* World Trade Organization

External links

* "Group of 90 developing countries say Singapore issues should be dropped from WTO Agenda," [http://www.choike.org/nuevo_eng/informes/1502.html]
* "G90 poor nations hold strategy session over WTO trade talks," [http://www.truthforce.info/index.php?q=node/view/354]