Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) and the Pacific - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) and the Pacific

Trinnex, Proinvest

Vanuatu, August 2010

• Trade between the EU and Pacific states islimited and erratic (about 0.06% of EU’strade)
• Most important export products to the EU are palm oil, copper, sugar, coconut (copra) and fish
• Cotonou agreement expired on 31 December 2007

• Late 2007, the twobiggesteconomieswithsignificanttradeflowswith the EU – Fiji and PNG – agreed an interim EPA with the EU.
• the agreement maintains and improves PNG's and Fiji's preferences in the EU market for their main exports and ensures that they benefit from improved Rules of Origin for key products like canned tunand

• The agreement was signed by the Parties in the latter half of 2009. Provisional application of the agreement for PNG started on 20 December 2009. Application for Fiji is pending a notification of provisional application or ratification.
• The Least Developed Countries (LDCs) of Kiribati, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tuvalu and Vanuatu all benefit from the Everything But Arms (EBA): duty free and quota free access to the EU.

• The non-LDCs that did not join the interim EPA (Cook Islands, Tonga, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Niue, Palau and Nauru) benefit from the EU's regular Generalised System of Preferences since 1 January 2008.

Concluded with PNG in July 2009,

Fiji in December 2009,

Major provisions of trade in goods agreement.

• Duty free quota free access for all PNG and Fiji exports to the EU (transition for rice and sugar)
• Asymetric and gradualtarriffreductionschedule
• Trade defence (safeguards)
• TBT and SPS
• Trade facilitation
• Clause on ongoing full regional EPA

• PNG to liberalise 88% of EU imports and excluded products from the most sensitive economic sectors (e.g. meat, fish, vegetables, furniture) and luxury products (jewellery)
• Fiji will liberalise 87% of EU imports over 15 years. Fiji excluded products from the most sensitive economic sectors such as meat, fish, fruits and vegetables, alcohol, tubes and iron.

• RoO  Global sourcing for canned tuna
• Also IUU regulation (illegal, unreported and unregulated fish)
• To fully benefit from iEPA  investments in facilities and quality control, secure source of raw material

• Ongoingnegotiations on comprehensive full regional EPA with Pacific States
• Continued EU support in the TRA area

EU regional suport in the TRA area

Strengthening Pacific Economic Integration Through Trade (SPEITT)

PIFS’ Pacific Regional Economic Integration Program (PACREIP),

the SPC’s Facilitating Agricultural Commodity Trade (FACT) program,

the South Pacific Tourism Organisation’s (SPTO) Pacific Regional Tourism Development Program (PRTDP) program

Strengthening Fisheries Products (SFP)

PROINVEST / BIZCLIM

• 30 mi EURO
• 3 main objectives:
• Increased capacity in trade policy
• Improved trade facilitation through improved customs management and systems
• Strengthened PACPs productive export capacity
• Continued EU support in the TRA area

• 4 sub-components:
• the Pacific Integration Technical Assistance Program (PITAP), implemented by PIFS;
• the Pacific Regional Tourism Capacity Building Program (PRTCBP) implemented by SPTO;
• the Increasing Agriculture Commodity Trade (IACT) programme implemented by SPC;
• the Trade Facilitation through Customs Cooperation (TFCC) program implemented by OCO
• Continued EU support in the TRA area

• Implementation to start next year

Questions?

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• Continued EU support in the TRA area

About 7-8 % of PNG’s trade and less than 0.03 % of EU’s trade