UPOV’s campaign to absorb new members received yet another serious boost when the WTO and WIPO decided to form a trio with it and conduct a world tour. The three set out early this year on a series of joint seminars aimed at pressurising developing countries into adopting UPOV-type legislation, or joining the Union, as compliance with TRIPS Article 27.3(b). The series kicked off with a symposium in Geneva for all developing countries in February. This was followed by regional and subregional workshops: for Asia-Pacific (Bangkok) in March, for the Arab world (Cairo) in early May and for Eastern Africa (Nairobi) just after, with francophone Africa signing the Convention en bloc somewhere in between. Farmers organisations and NGOs have been barred from these workshops but different participants have described them as "lobby" exercises, falling just short of "bribery." As one workshop participant put it, "UPOV members have been very successful in confusing participants. Many think the two [UPOV and sui generis] are one in the same. Some seem to believe they must join UPOV to be a member of WTO.