SUVA (Pacnews) — Civil society representatives have been urged to present their views on the nature of trade arrangements in the region at a series of national workshops being held over the next few weeks in the 14 Forum Island Countries.
The workshops are to prepare the region for the upcoming negotiations with the European Union in September 2002 under the provisions of the Cotonou Agreement between the EU and the African, Caribbean and Pacific group.
“The Forum’s efforts to secure new trade arrangements with major partners such as the European Union have attracted both supporters and critics,” said the secretary-general of the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat, Noel Levi.
“I urge civil society representatives to share their views with public officials on these, and other, trade arrangements as part of wider consultations,” said Levi, who is also the regional authorizing officer for the EU’s multilateral assistance to the region.
“The proposed trade arrangements, and other initiatives such as the free trade area in the region, are part of the region’s efforts to have some say in broader global events that affect us,” Levi said. The workshops begin this week in Fiji and will end next month in Samoa.
The Pacific ACP Ministers Meeting in Samoa in June 2001 adopted a regional strategy to assist the PACP countries involving two studies, fourteen national workshops, a regional seminar and a PACP Trade Ministers Meeting.
The workshops will assist in developing a regional and national position on negotiations for Economic Partnership Agreements with the EU, based on the outcomes of the Impact Assessment and Trade Policy Studies. The workshops will also identify capacity building and technical assistance needs.
Discussions will focus on alternative PACP trading arrangements with the EU, including those that are country-specific. Other issues include the implications of the alternatives identified; and the best strategy for each individual PACP country.
