Regional trade issues to feature highly on Pacific Forum Trade Officials Meeting agenda in Vanuatu today

Regional trade issues will feature high on the agenda of the Pacific Forum Trade Officials Meeting which starts in Port Vila, Vanuatu, today prior to a meeting of Forum Trade Ministers next week.

The Forum Trade Officials Meeting is one of five trade related meetings which started on Monday this week and will go on until 3rd August.

The Trade Officials meeting will review the implementation of the Pacific Agreement on Closer Economic Relations (PACER) between Australia and New Zealand, and the Forum Island Countries (FICs), and also discuss issues related to SPARTECA.

They will consider progress on implementation of the Regional Trade Facilitation Programme (RTFP), a programme for the Standards and Conformance component of the RTFP.

The Forum trade officials will also deliberate on the reports carried out with the objective of a more comprehensive framework for Trade and Economic Cooperation between FICs and Australia and New Zealand. This includes the Gap Analysis Study and Baseline Study.

The Meeting will also consider a regional approach to World Trade Organization (WTO) trade issues as well as the implementation and proposed future direction for improving intellectual property rights systems in the FICs.

A Report on Revenue Consequences of Trade Reforms in the FICs will also be considered along with a review of the strategy for trade capacity-building for FICs.

The outcomes of today’s meeting, including recommendations from the Forum Trade Officials, will be sent to the Forum Trade Ministers for further deliberation and decision when they meet in Port Vila, 2 – 3 August.

Source: PIFS