(o+) Australia and New Zealand May Be Pushing Too Hard and Too Soon

UPDATE FROM FIJI. Click  here.

Australia and NZ continue to push for greater speed to establish a Pacific free trade agreement that will include all PI Forum countries. As more PACER Plus* talks get underway in Cairns today and tomorrow -- without Fiji -- Oxfam NZ executive director, Barry Coates (photo), warns that any rigid free trade deal would mean a loss of government jobs and revenue in the region and worsen poverty and health problems.

"What is needed," he said, " is an economic cooperation agreement, with the Pacific’s development at its core. The first step should be proper consultations with business and community groups within the island countries. A rush to start negotiations without this preparation could cause irreparable damage to the islands’ economies and their development prospects."

Fiji Foreign minister, Ratu Inoke Kubuabola, echoes Oxfam's concern, and has called on Pacific island countries to exercise “the fullest extent of caution” in their dealings with Australia and New Zealand. Most Forum Island Countries (FIC), he said, have not yet completed extensive national consultations with stakeholders to identify national positions for PACER Plus negotiations, and until this is done they should defer making commitments on the timelines, the coverage and the mandate for the new Chief Trade Advisor.

Fiji has repeated its claim its exclusion from PACER is illegal and it will not be bound by any decisions to which it is not a party. Fiji has given the Forum nations 30 days to re-instate it as a member of PACER, claiming its suspension was a material breach of its interests, leaving his Government no alternative but to suspend Part Two of the PACER agreement. It is under this clause that the parties are conducting negotiations today and tomorrow in Cairns.


Ratu Inoke says full reinstatement of Fiji’s rights under PACER would require the convening of a meeting of all PACER parties to retract the decision excluding it, the stopping of the launching of PACER Plus negotiations and an end to the recruitment process for a a chief trade advisor.” "As signatories to the treaty of PACER, all forum member countries have a legal obligation to respond, in good faith and as soon as possible, to Fiji's request for consultations under Article 15 of PACER."  The Melanesian bloc is understood to want Fiji included in the discussions.

The Fiji Times report that  a "mechanism" has been put in place to inform Fiji of happenings and report Fiji's response back to the Forum is hardly likely to improve the situation.

Background on PACER (Pacific Agreement on Closer Economic Relations)
 The PACER-Plus plan is controversial with Fiji stating Forum countries are being bullied by Australia and NZ.  NGO critics such as Oxfam claim free trade would greatly favour Australia and New Zealand, which already have a heavy trade imbalance in their favour with the island countries.They say the islands' local industries would be destroyed by cheaper imports and their governments would lose a large slice of their revenue if tariffs and duties were lifted on Australian and New Zealand goods. Canberra and Wellington, on the other hand, say the deal would increase trade in the region and associated development assistance would ensure PACER-Plus worked in the island nations' favour.

Fiji is excluded from PACER talks because of its suspension from the PI Forum. Fiji says the two organizations are separate, and its exlusion is therefore illegal.