Fiji seeks inclusion in Pac trade talks

July 05, 2009 04:43:13 PM

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Fiji is looking to be included in talks for a regional free trade agreement despite its suspension from the Pacific Islands Forum in May this year.

Trade ministers of the 15 remaining members of the Forum have agreed to continue talks on the Pacific Agreement on Closer Economic Relations (PACER) after the conclusion of the Pacific Islands Forum Leaders Meeting in Cairns in August 2009.

Fiji Attorney General Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum says the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is working on securing Fiji’s “adequate representation at the PACER negotiations”.

“For a regional trade agreement to be successful you need one of the largest economies in the South Pacific to be a participant in the PACER- Plus negotiations and obviously Fiji is not to-date,” said Sayed-Khaiyum.

Fiji was excluded from the PACER talks held in May in Auckland and the latest meeting in Samoa in June.

When asked whether the Fiji government will sign the agreement from these talks, Sayed-Khaiyum is hoping that “good sense will prevail”.

“Our position has always been that it is a regional trade agreement which is different to the foreign policy of say Australia and New Zealand and their position on that.”

Sayed-Khaiyum concurs with University of Auckland law professor, Dr Jane Kelsey, that any decision reached on the trade agreement, without Fiji, will have no legal foundation.

Dr Kelsey had said that Fiji has been one of the most rigorous in calling for caution, research and consultation before going forward with PACER-Plus.

“And there exclusion appears to be likely to have the effect of allowing Australia and New Zealand to fast track the process with much less resistance than would occur otherwise,” she said.

Meanwhile, ministers of the Forum countries who met in Samoa have backed the establishment of the Office of Chief Trade Adviser (OCTA) to be funded by Australia and New Zealand.

The OCTA is to be established initially as a special unit of the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat (PIFS) prior to the establishment of the permanent office in Vanuatu.

The Forum Trade Ministers expect to meet again in the Federated States of Micronesia not later than November 2009 to develop a framework for the PACER-Plus negotiations.

The framework would include issues of timelines within which the negotiations are to be completed.