Barrie Coates of NGO Oxfam NZ (photo) asks for your help on a report to be taken to the Forum meeting in Cairns. The NGO hopes the principles and new approaches outlined in the report will be accepted as a better way to protect Pacific Islands interests than conventional free trade approaches and practice.Kia Ora colleagues,
Please click here for Oxfam’s new report that outlines the alternative forms of economic cooperation agreement for the upcoming negotiations on the economic relations between New Zealand and Australia and the Pacific Islands. We have prepared it as an input to discussions at the forthcoming Pacific Islands Forum meeting. Any help you can provide to get it into the hands of Pacific Ministers and government officials would be very helpful.
PACER Plus and its Alternatives: Which way for Trade and Development in the Pacific? outlines how trade with our Pacific neighbours is seriously imbalanced in favour of Australia and New Zealand. The report responds to the recommendation from the Forum Trade Ministers’ meeting that negotiations for a new cooperation agreement be launched at this year’s Leaders’ Forum. Oxfam New Zealand and Oxfam Australia have jointly prepared this paper, principally authored by Nick Braxton, in order to contribute to the debate on how such any economic cooperation agreement in the Pacific can fulfil the stated aims of supporting the Pacific’s development.
The report notes that much of the debate around the launch of the negotiations has focused on support or criticism for a ‘standard’ WTO-compatible free trade agreement. The report reveals, however, that there are many options available to negotiators and that it is entirely possible to construct an economic cooperation agreement that would improve the Pacific’s trade prospects while avoiding many of the risks associated with a standard free trade agreement.
Several options, and their pros and cons, are outlined.
Getting the trade rules right, however, is not even half the battle. It is the lack of viable supply that is the main constraint that an economic cooperation agreement must address. Therefore, the report argues, The Pacific has viable opportunities to add value to its natural resources, boost exports and displace imports, but needs support to do so. This needs to be the core of any agreement that has development as a primary aim.
The report then outlines three crucial elements that are required if these negotiations are to deliver on the aim of enhancing the Pacific’s development:
1) Discussions about a new form of developmentally-oriented economic co-operation agreement must be broad in scope, building up from priorities identified by the Pacific countries themselves. Developing the Pacific’s proposals will take time, certainly well beyond the suggested timeframe of agreeing a framework and timetable by end November this year.
2) Negotiations on a broader economic co-operation agreement will need strong cooperation across government departments, and will need the close involvement of other actors in the economy and society more broadly, including parliamentarians, traditional leaders, civil society, the private sector and others. Sufficient time and resources to enable this to take place are crucial.
3) A traditional approach to negotiations led by officials who have been schooled in the language and mindset of adversarial trade negotiations is not likely to lead to an agreement that is in the interests of the region. Serious consideration should be given to assembling the most appropriate range of skills for negotiating teams within all governments, including Australia and New Zealand, ensuring that those with development expertise and mandate are centrally involved.
Oxfam believes that these negotiations are critical for the Pacific Islands Countries, but they will need a radically new approach. Achieving developmentally-sound outcomes will only be possible if there is enough time, sufficient resources, real stakeholder engagement and constructive ways of working. Reverting back to the familiar styles of trade negotiations would doom the negotiations to repeat the patterns of the past.
My colleague, Nick Braxton and I would appreciate any feedback or comment you may have on the report. For those involved in Forum meetings, I will be in Cairns during the Forum Leaders meetings and would be pleased to meet at any stage.
Sincerely,
Barry
Barry Coates, Executive Director, Oxfam New Zealand, Tel: +64 9 355 6506 FAX: +64 9 355 6505. email: barry@oxfam.org.nz web: www.oxfam.org.nz
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