ISDS Case Map
Pacific Islands / Pacific Forum
PNG and Fiji’s rejection shows that the agreement is heavily skewed towards the interests of Australia and New Zealand - despite early rhetoric that the agreement was about development needs.
Indonesia has proposed the setting up of a new trade bloc that could counterbalance the dominance of the United States and China.
The negotiations are said to offer an opportunity to help Pacific Islands Forum countries benefit from enhanced regional trade and economic integration.
Trade ministers from Pacific Island Forum countries including Australia and New Zealand gathered to try to sign off on the negotiations which have been going on for more than 8 years.
A meeting on Pacific labour mobility under the PACER Plus trade deal has a glaring omission – the voices of organised labour.
Defending Pacific ways of life: A Peoples Social Impact Assessment of PACER-Plus, was commissioned by the Pacific Network on Globalisation (PANG) to provide Pacific governments, negotiators, parliamentarians, civil society actors, customary landowners and the private sector with an alternative assessment to the impacts that PACER-Plus will have on the region.
A new report says Pacific Island countries should walk away from the proposed PACER Plus free trade agreement, suggesting it puts Australia and New Zealand's interests ahead of the Pacific.
The signing of a Pacific free trade deal in June has been thrown into doubt with the largest island nation Papua New Guinea saying it favours Australia and will damage local industries.
PACER-Plus is shaping up as an agreement that won't fit into the Pacific reality, will have weak protections for Pacific businesses and undermines the ability of governments to enact policies to support and nurture vital Pacific industries.
PACER-Plus is shaping up as an agreement that won't fit into the Pacific reality, will have weak protections for Pacific businesses and undermines the ability of governments to enact policies to support and nurture vital Pacific industries.
