Fiji’s Permanent Secretary for Trade, Shaheen Ali, announced that the country turned down the PACER Plus Agreement, which was signed by Pacific Island Leaders alongside Australia and New Zealand in Tonga in 2017, citing a lack of flexibility and insufficient benefits to counterbalance the potential risks and costs involved.
During his remarks at the PACER Plus Plenary Session, Ali noted that the negotiations for PACER Plus, which took place from 2009 to 2017, were influenced by the ‘Most Favoured Nation’ (MFN) clause, initially triggered when Fiji and Papua New Guinea signed the Interim Economic Partnership Agreement with the EU in 2008. Fiji only joined the PACER Plus discussions in 2014 after being suspended from the Forum.
Ali emphasized that despite joining later, Fiji made significant contributions to the negotiations, resulting in several flexibilities being included in PACER Plus that may not have been present without Fiji’s participation.
Additionally, the Ministry of Trade announced that Professor Chris Noonan from the University of Auckland will lead Fiji’s negotiations to possibly re-enter PACER Plus. Ali highlighted that Prof Noonan played a key role in the Fiji team during discussions for the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF), a trade agreement that involves Australia, New Zealand, and Fiji.