Fiji’s Permanent Secretary for Trade, Shaheen Ali, announced that the country has decided to reject the PACER Plus Agreement, which was signed by Pacific Island leaders alongside Australia and New Zealand in Tonga in 2017. He explained that the agreement lacked sufficient flexibility and benefits to mitigate the potential risks and costs involved.
During the PACER Plus Plenary Session, Ali recalled that negotiations began for PACER Plus in 2009, following the initialing of the Interim Economic Partnership Agreement with the EU by Fiji and Papua New Guinea in 2008, which triggered the ‘Most Favoured Nation’ (MFN) clause in PACER. Fiji entered the negotiations in 2014 after being suspended from the Forum.
Ali emphasized that although Fiji joined the discussions later, the country made significant contributions, and the PACER Plus agreement includes several flexibilities that may not have been present without Fiji’s participation.
The Ministry of Trade announced that Professor Chris Noonan from the University of Auckland will lead Fiji’s efforts to renegotiate its position regarding PACER Plus. Ali noted that Professor Noonan played a crucial role in the Fiji team during negotiations for the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF), a trade agreement involving Australia, New Zealand, and Fiji.