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Almost two thirds of the Commonwealth’s members are classified as "small states". The Commonwealth therefore plays an influential role as a collective voice and advocate for small states, and contributes to greater international awareness of issues affecting them.
The Commonwealth defines small states as those with a population of 1.5 million or fewer. Jamaica, Lesotho and Papua New Guinea are also considered small states because they share physical and economic characteristics of small states in their regions. Of the 32 Commonwealth small states, 13 have populations of less than 200,000 and are therefore known as mini-states.
In 1993, a Commonwealth Ministerial level meeting on Small States was established as a regular fixture on the eve of CHOGM to:
Small states are concerned about marginalisation of their economies through any negative impact of globalisation and climate change, as well as a decline in international aid flows and trade preferences. In recent years the meeting has focussed more on defining the unique vulnerabilities of small states, and finding ways to overcome them.
To address these issues, and present them to international organisations, the 1997 CHOGM commissioned a small Ministerial Mission (including the New Zealand Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade). The mission’s report led to the World Bank’s creation of a joint task force with the Commonwealth Secretariat, to consider small state vulnerability issues. The task force’s report set some benchmarks for small states to use as a measure of international organisations’ responsiveness to their particular needs.
A more recent issue arose from the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development’s (OECD) decision in 2000 to discriminate against countries adopting ‘harmful’ off-shore taxation regimes. Regimes with a lack of transparency and poor cooperation with taxation authorities in developed countries fit the definition of harmful. An initial dispute about the process between the largely small states affected and the OECD has given way to cooperation and the development of more robust off-shore taxation and banking regimes. New Zealand has helped Pacific Island small states deal constructively with the OECD’s concerns.
The Ministerial Group on Small States meeting on 1 March 2002 considered the implementation of the recommendations of the Commonwealth Secretariat/World bank Joint Task Force Report; the OECD Harmful Tax Practices Initiative; and a paper prepared by the Commonwealth Secretariat outlining A New Agenda for Commonwealth Work on Small States.
Almost one third of the Commonwealth’s small state members are in the South Pacific. New Zealand has an empathy for the concerns of small states. We appreciate the challenges of being relatively small and geographically isolated. New Zealand also has a direct interest in ensuring the Pacific region is economically prosperous and environmentally secure.
