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The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade is inviting submissions on PACER Plus the free trade agreement between New Zealand and Australia and the Pacific Forum Island Countries provided for under the Pacific Agreement on Closer Economic Relations (PACER).
The closing date for submissions is Monday 16 November 2009.
Information on how to make a submission is provided at the end of the page.
Leaders, at the Pacific Islands Forum Meeting in Cairns in August 2009 have agreed to the commencement of negotiations on PACER Plus. See below for the Cairns Forum Communique:
Leaders have welcomed the decision from Forum Trade Ministers to establish an Office of the Chief Trade Adviser (OCTA) to assist Forum Island Countries in their preparations for and participation in PACER Plus negotiations. New Zealand and Australia have each agreed to provide AUD$500,000 per annum for an initial three year period to fund the OCTA. Further funding building on the contribution of New Zealand and Australia may be sought from other donors.
A meeting of Forum Trade Ministers will be held in Brisbane, Australia on 23 - 24 October, to discuss a framework for PACER Plus negotiations including timelines; identification of issues for the negotiations and issues in respect of which the chief trade adviser can negotiate.
The special nature of our relationship and our significant people to people links with the Pacific means that PACER Plus will not be a traditional trade negotiation in which commercial interests alone define New Zealand’s approach. Consistent with the evolving focus of our Official Development Assistance (ODA) efforts in the Pacific, New Zealand’s key objective in pursuing PACER Plus will be to ensure that the agreement promotes sustainable economic growth in the Pacific, enabling Pacific Island countries to capitalise on their potential for trade.
Forum Trade Ministers stressed the importance of progressing PACER Plus as a means to underpin the economic security of the region through capacity building and market liberalisation. New Zealand’s vision for PACER Plus is an agreement that will equip Pacific Island countries better to withstand external shocks, to raise standards of living, to increase jobs and export capacity in the region and to address the significant goods trade imbalance that currently exists between the Pacific and New Zealand. The agreement must also be flexible and take account of individual countries’ circumstances, sizes and stages of development.
New Zealand’s trade with the region in the year ended December 2008, was worth over one billion dollars. There is, however, a glaring trade imbalance, between New Zealand and the Pacific. Despite already providing duty free and quota free access for Pacific goods under the South Pacific Regional Trade and Economic Cooperation Agreement (SPARTECA), Pacific goods exports to New Zealand were worth just $200m, the majority of which were made up of crude oil imports from Papua New Guinea. New Zealand exports to the Pacific on the other hand were worth over $800m.
Services trade between New Zealand and the Pacific is largely in the form of tourism. Around 144,000 New Zealanders holiday in the Pacific every year. Reports[1] suggest that tourists spend over $US1.5b in the Pacific per year and that for every US$1m spent by tourists, $660, 000 of local wages and salary payments and other purchases are made from local economies in the region.
In considering the framework for negotiations in October, Ministers will wish to consider the range of trade related issues to be discussed in the negotiations. In informal discussions with Forum Island Countries a wide range of trade related issues has been signalled for possible inclusion.
The goods trade imbalance between New Zealand and the Pacific shows that providing market access on its own is not sufficient to ensure that the benefits of trade are able to be realised. A key focus for New Zealand will, therefore, be capacity building and economic cooperation. Possible areas of negotiation may include the following areas:
| Trade in Goods: | Market Access |
| Rules of Origin | |
| Customs Procedures | |
| Trade Remedies | |
| Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures | |
| Technical Barriers to Trade | |
| Trade in Services: | Market Access |
| Movement of Natural Persons | |
| Telecommunications | |
| Financial Services | |
| Investment | |
| Other Trade Rules: | Intellectual Property |
| Government Procurement | |
| Electronic Commerce | |
| Competition Policy | |
| Trade and Labour | |
| Trade and Environment | |
| Dispute Settlement | |
| Cooperation and Assistance: | Economic Cooperation and Development Development Assistance and Capacity Building |
As New Zealand prepares for PACER Plus negotiations it is important that negotiators know and understand the views and interests of New Zealanders. Investors, exporters and importers of goods and services, non-government organisations and individuals are invited to make submissions.
The submissions will help shape New Zealand’s negotiating mandate for the trade talks. Negotiators will follow-up submissions with direct contact, if necessary. The public consultation process is an ongoing one that will provide further opportunities for input and comment on the negotiation.
In a submission, you may wish to highlight:
Submissions can be sent in three ways:
Please note that submissions will be made publicly available on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade's website, unless specified otherwise in the submission.
Please direct any questions you have about PACER Plus or the submissions process to:
Matthew Aileone Regional Trade Policy Unit
Pacific Division
Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade
Private Bag 18-901
Wellington 5045
Tel: 04 439 8000
email: matthew.aileone@mfat.govt.nz
[1] South Pacific Trade Organisation report “ The economic impact of tourism in SPTO member countries” August 2005 prepared by Simon Milne.
