The Global Sugar Alliance is a cohesive group of the world's leading sugar producing nations with the objective of improving market circumstances.

In November 1999, a group of the world's major sugar producers (both exporters and importers) met in Seattle during the WTO Ministerial meeting to develop an approach that would ensure a focus on sugar in the new agricultural negotiations. They agreed to join forces and commence an effort to elevate the importance of sugar in agricultural negotiations. The Global Alliance for Sugar Trade Reform and Liberalisation was established during this meeting when members (Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, India, Guatemala and Thailand) agreed and signed a communiqué calling for WTO agreement on agriculture that includes positive, progressive, and meaningful reform of the world sugar market by ensuring that sugar is included as an important element of the agricultural trade agenda. South Africa became a member of the Global Alliance shortly thereafter.

The Global Alliance is a cohesive group of sugar producing nations. The Alliance represents more than 50 percent of world sugar production and more than 85 percent of world raw sugar exports. Except for Australia and Canada, all members of the Global Alliance are developing countries.

By reaching an agreement to collaborate on trade distorting issues, agreeing on common objectives, and working closely with Trade and Agriculture Ministers in the Cairns Group and G-20, the Global Sugar Alliance has been successful in elevating the profile of sugar in the trade negotiations. Given that the member countries are major competitors in the world sugar market, agreeing on a common negotiating framework for sugar has been a significant step forward, reflecting the fact that the sugar industry in each country shares the objective of improving its market circumstances.

The Global Sugar Alliance is not just another global commodity group designed to share information. It incorporates three important ingredients.

1. It shows that there is a wide international coalition of producers seeking an improved world sugar trading environment.
2. As a group comprising largely developing countries, it provides an effective countervailing voice to advocates for trade protection.
3. It provides a basis for Trade and Agricultural Ministers to engage each other on sugar issues with the knowledge that their domestic industries are fully supportive of their negotiating position. It adds strength to their hands. This flows through to the officials' level too. The environment within which the agricultural negotiations are occurring is being conditioned. Already, officials in Geneva and elsewhere are anticipating that much closer attention will be paid to sugar this time around.

Despite the fact that it has no official recognition within the WTO, the Global Sugar Alliance is influencing the agricultural negotiations as they relate to sugar. It is making a constructive contribution to the trade debate. At the aggregate level, the U.S. and EU are no longer able to limit the consideration of agricultural trade issues to matters of transatlantic significance alone.