Building Pacific Capacities To Support Trade And Market Access
The knowledge sharing event is organised by the Pacific Community (SPC) through the European Union- funded Safe Agricultural Trade Facilitation through Economic Integration in the Pacific (SAFE Pacific) project, with technical support from the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development IMPACT Project, Vanuatu Electronic Single Window Project, the Pacific Islands Forum's SPIRIT Project, Biosecurity Vanuatu and COLEAD.
The unavailability of organised and transparent information is a key barrier to trade. The event raises awareness of important resources and trade platforms available to ease the work of regulatory authorities and improve business processes for exporters of agro products. Knowledge of the use of these tools will help with the movement of goods across borders and maximise efficiency while reducing costs and delays.
In this respect, another focus of the workshop is immersing regional participants in the use of the 'single window' concept in risk profiling, planning and facilitating efficient border clearance for both imports and exports. Vanuatu leads the Pacific in this effort, and the country's experiences were also shared by Timor-Leste.
In his opening address, Director General of the Vanuatu Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Forestry, and Biosecurity (MALFB), Timothy Tumukon shared that trade is no longer about moving goods but also about information that helps move those goods, in an efficient manner and in compliance with importing country regulations.
' Our farmers and exporters depend on accurate, up-to-date SPS information to meet biosecurity conditions, market requirements, including food safety standards, and also to gain access to new overseas markets. Knowing where to go to access essential information is critical, and it is also why digital tools are no longer optional, but essential,' Mr Tumukon said.
' Cooperation amongst all actors along the value chain, and at the borders, is also important. Let us work together to build not just capacity, but resilience, where our businesses are informed, our agencies are equipped, and our trade systems are ready for the future,' he added.
Using the example of Vanuatu's Electronic Single Window System, Mr Tumukon shared how Vanuatu, through this tool, is making major strides in improving how it handles export and import processes.
' Our biosecurity team can now coordinate directly with Customs and other regulatory agencies through one platform. This means exporters get faster clearance and approvals without a big pile of paper applications, better access to regulatory information, and a clearer path to compliance with international standards.'
Key trade tools and systems shared with participants in the three-day workshop includes the Automated System for Customs Data (ASYCUDA) and its various module including ASYCUDA Sanitary and Phytosanitary System (ASYSPS), ASYCUDA Reconciliation Module (ASYREC), Convention in International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (eCITES) , Trade Single Window, Trade Information Portals (TIPs), the electronic Phytosanitary Certification system (ePhyto), the Trade Control and Expert System (TRACES), the Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF), Global Trade Helpdesk (GTH), Trade Analysis Information Systems (TRAINS), and SPC hosted regional Biosecurity Information Facility (BIF) and Pest List Database (PLD).
SPC Programmes and Office Coordinator based at the Melanesia Regional Office in Port Vila, Cecile Depuille, said, ' By equipping Biosecurity, Customs and Trade Officers, alongside micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) with the right tools and knowledge, we can better access key markets and improve trade outcomes. '
' This will position our business community to better leverage and benefit from available trade instruments such as the EU-Pacific States Economic Partnership Agreement,' she said.
In line with this, participants also learned provisions in the EU-Pacific States Economic Partnership Agreement that enable greater access for Pacific countries to EU markets, alongside broader awareness on World Trade Organization (WTO) Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA), Melanesian Free Trade Agreement (MFTA), Pacific Islands Countries Trade Agreement (PICTA) and the agreement under PACER Plus.
The tools shared at the workshop can be used to better access information for trade with the EU and other key markets such as Australia, New Zealand, the USA, Asia and intra-regional trade among Pacific Island Countries and Territories.
About SAFE Pacific:
The SAFE Pacific project is funded by the European Union and implemented by SPC to support greater economic integration in the region. SAFE Pacific provides targeted assistance to support small Pacific Island countries in increasing export capacity and improving economic growth. SAFE Pacific is implemented across 15 Pacific countries including Cook Islands, Fiji, Federated States of Micronesia, Kiribati, Nauru, Niue, Palau, PNG, Republic of the Marshall Islands, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Timor-Leste, Tonga, Tuvalu, and Vanuatu.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
NZ Herald
2 days ago
- NZ Herald
Jane Clifton: Trump is playing high-stakes bingo with world economies
Patriot games: Donald Trump and Ursula von de Leyen hammered out tariff terms. Photo / Getty Images Observers didn't actually witness US President Donald Trump and European Commission President Ursula von de Leyen calling out, 'Legs-eleven, two little ducks, twenty-two, clickety-click, sixty-six,' when they met in Scotland recently, but it must have been close. The US's tariff crusade has degenerated to the equivalent of a slow night down the bingo hall, with numbers constantly announced but never conclusively scratched out. For now, the US has hoisted 'Young and keen, 15,' as its new, higher impost on European Union exports. In unprecedented unneighbourliness, Canada is reeling from 'Jump'n'jive, 35'. Switzerland is smarting at 39%, China, 30% and India, 25%, whereas the UK and Australia are agloat over 'PM's Den – 10'. But – eyes down, looking! – there's a new bingo call every minute, and not just by the US President. Global trade comes with an indefinite purgatory of 'technical' talks. As of now, platoons of lethally accomplished technocrat pedants are beetling over the fine print to argue for excluding various categories – amounting to practically every country's entire export output. Already, carve-outs worth billions have been agreed. The roll call of exceptions may not get a lot of publicity. This is not just out of tact – as in, letting the US still think it has kicked ass. It's simply not practical to express a detailed daily update. Imagine it: 'At press time, the latest US tariff is 15% except on baking soda, where it'll be 10%, gumboots, sugar-free confectionary and paper napkins, 12%; 8% on fish byproducts, onion rings …' and so on. If the list of exceptions goes on and on, trade acronyms are seemingly limitless in length. The Trans-Pacific Partnership bloated into the ridiculous CPTPP agreement because some countries thought it would sound nicer if they chucked in 'comprehensive', 'progressive' and 'agreement'. So, who knows? We could all soon be reciting tariff bingo. Crazy to think that just a year ago, the tariff system was a bit like Blu-ray – still going but hopelessly naff. As a vestige of protectionism, tariffs were retained according to the St Augustin principle: Lord, make me good, but not just yet. As is now tattooed onto global markets' hard drives: they are back, Terminator style. The US can call the shots in world trade and is capable of going right off the bingo card – as in its 200% opening salvo on pharmaceuticals. Accordingly, the definition of 'fair trade' has undergone an emergency rewrite. Trade imbalances used to be considered nothing personal, just a reflection of country A's consumers liking country B's stuff more than country B's folk like stuff from country A. Various factors aside from tariffs caused such preferences: base price, quality and reliability of supply, and, to a lesser extent, reputational factors such as slave labour, carbon emissions and pollution. The US, however, has decided other countries are not buying enough of its stuff, and worse, have nicked some of its best businesses. It has shown tariffs to be a highly effective whacking stick – newly accessorised with 'unrelated' side deals like arms and energy arrangementes. The EU is to buy NZ$1270 billion of US energy between now and 2028. Absolutely not a concession after Trump's initial threat of 'Dirty Gertie, 30' – honest. Some analysts predict the US will come off worse overall with domestic cost-of-living and inflation consequences; others see a weaker Europe and a more aggressive China. The only safe prediction is that tariffs will keep moving up and down. Still, if prospectuses start turning up calling for investment in a causeway across the Labrador Sea joining Canada to Europe (via Greenland's Denmark connection), it might not be a hoax. Canada's EU membership application could well be in the mail.
RNZ News
3 days ago
- RNZ News
Desperate plea from struggling grain sector
Low product prices for arable farmers have prompted desperate calls for New Zealand farmers, mills and shoppers to take up local grain. Photo: ARNE DEDERT Maize harvest Photo: RNZ/Sally Round Low product prices for arable farmers have prompted desperate calls from the often overlooked sector for New Zealand farmers, mills and shoppers to take up local grain. Farmers of cereals like wheat, barley and oats have faced unstable prices and markets in recent years, competing with cheaper imports from Australia or European Union countries. Farmer confidence soared to its highest level in more than a decade in July but not for the arable sector, according to lobby group Federated Farmers. While it found 81 percent of dairy farmers were making a profit, 29 percent of arable farmers were making a loss. Nearly half the arable farming respondents said their mental health had been affected. Harvest volumes in the year to July were down 2 percent on last year across milling, malting and feed to 97,500 tonnes, according to the latest Arable Industry Marketing Initiative (AIMI) survey of 110 farms. However supply was matching demand, with the volumes of unsold stocks up to 187,600 tonnes. As farmers considered plantings for the 2026 harvest, volumes were expected to fall 7 percent to around 90,500 hectares, the survey showed. Foundation for Arable Research (FAR) general manager of business operations Ivan Lawrie said farmers' margins were "squeezed" as commodity prices had not kept up with the rising cost of production. "Well, it hasn't been a brilliant year and obviously that affects the mood. We've had some issues around a very wet harvest for most crops that affected yield and quality in some cases, and really the issue of profitability lingers on." He said historically, profitable times in dairy correlated to good prices in arable, but that was not currently happening. "There's certainly been an increase and/or maintenance of some of these feed products imported into the dairy industry. Obviously [Palm Kernel Expeller] being the leading one. "And while not all arable products are direct replacements for that... there are certainly things we could produce in New Zealand both on the dairy platforms and on arable platforms to let's say, reduce the reliance on imports." Lawrie said buying local grain would support farmers and rural communities, but there was more transparency too around traceability to New Zealand's highly efficient arable farms. "When we import product, we actually do not have the same level of information as to where the crops were grown and how they were grown." Lawrie said milling wheat particularly was under a lot of pressure, and levels of 100,000-120,000 tonnes was "not sustainable in the long-term." "So we need to increase probably at least double that volume of milling wheat grown and used by end users in New Zealand. "We are under a great danger of losing it if we don't have critical mass." He said FAR was developing a trademark to recognise when mills use 100 percent New Zealand grains in flour and bread making, set to launch later this year. Lawrie said most North Island flour mills predominantly used imported grain for making loaved bread. He said they chose to import rather than getting southern grain sent up via the "not fully reliable" ferry across the "very expensive" Cook Strait . But he said a solution to reduce the cost of freight could unlock the use of southern grain at northern flour mills. "We're looking at other options like can we boost coastal shipping in New Zealand to make more sensible bulk movement of grain. "Can the rail and ferry combinations be upgraded to improve movement of grain from from the South Island to the North, and also can we create infrastructure for storage consolidation, grain drying and improvement of facilities on port to be able to load grain onto ships, etcetera. "All of that is still to be done, and unfortunately we probably had better infrastructure for that 70 years ago than what we have on Wednesday." Lawrie said it was in talks with the government in the hopes of a collaborative approach between public and private sectors, but appreciated there was "not a lot of surplus". He said the world has seen in the past five years alone how cargo shipping routes and operations could be disrupted by conflicts or pandemics. "This becomes an issue that transcends just the pure transactions. It really does become, in turbulent times globally, a potential issue for our food security. "Ensuring that New Zealand has a backbone of producing its own staples for the ability to feed its own people is actually quite important." Last month, the Commerce Commission granted clearance for food manufacturing giant George Weston Foods NZ, trading as Mauri New Zealand, to buy South Canterbury's Farmers Mill. It was considered one of the few remaining mills using exclusively New Zealand grain, but the Commission said it was satisfied the acquisition was unlikely to substantially lessen competition in the New Zealand market. The arable sector employed around 11,300 people, earning $800 million domestically and $260m through exports. Bevan Lill, a Mid Canterbury arable farmer who was also part of Federated Farmers' arable industry group, said prices for contracted milling wheat had not changed in 15 years, falling behind the cost of production. He said these days, there was huge diversity among arable farms, as farmers looked to other crops or activities to generate revenue, and warned there would likely be some loss of arable. The forage seed industry was also considering the impact of low profitability in the arable sector. Dr Derek Woodfield, who had just retired as general manager of PGG Wrightson Seeds spoke at the Plant Breeders Forum in Ōtautahi Christchurch last week. He said since farmers farmed for either capital gains or profit, challenges in arable were expected to flow down to the seed sector. "Where I see a real risk for us is actually the viability of the arable sector in New Zealand," Woodfield said at the industry event. "There have been close to zero capital gain on those properties per hectare in the last 10-15 years. That is a risk for arable farmers. "So as the moratorium or whatever on dairy conversions comes off, are we going to see a lot of our arable industry transition into dairy?" Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
RNZ News
07-08-2025
- RNZ News
Higher US tariffs kick in for dozens of trading partners
By Beiyi Seow Donald Trump holds a signed executive order after delivering remarks on reciprocal tariffs during an event in the Rose Garden entitled "Make America Wealthy Again" at the White House in Washington, DC, on 2 April, 2025. Photo: AFP The United States has begun charging higher tariffs on goods from dozens of trading partners, in a major escalation of President Donald Trump's drive to reshape global commerce in America's favour. Shortly before the new levies kicked in, Washington separately announced it would double Indian tariffs to 50 percent and hit many semiconductor imports from around the world with a 100-percent levy. As an executive order signed last week by Trump took effect, US import duties rose from 10 percent to levels between 15 percent and 41 percent for a list of trading partners. Many imports from economies including the European Union, Japan and South Korea now face a 15-percent tariff, even with deals struck with Washington to avert steeper threatened levies. But others like India face a 25 percent duty - to be doubled in three weeks to 50 percent - while Syria, Myanmar and Laos face staggering levels at either 40 percent or 41 percent. Switzerland's government, which failed to convince Trump not to impose a stinging 39 percent tariff, was set to hold an extraordinary meeting later on Thursday (local time). Taking to his Truth Social platform just after midnight, Trump posted: "IT'S MIDNIGHT!!! BILLIONS OF DOLLARS IN TARIFFS ARE NOW FLOWING INTO THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA!" The latest wave of "reciprocal" duties, aimed at addressing trade practices Washington deems unfair, broadens the measures Trump has imposed since returning to the presidency. On the eve of his latest salvo, he doubled planned duties on Indian goods to 50 percent, citing New Delhi's continued purchase of Russian oil. The new levy - up from 25 percent now - would take effect in three weeks. The Federation of Indian Export Organisations called the move a "severe setback for Indian exports, with nearly 55 percent of our shipments to the US market directly affected." For New Delhi, one of the main sticking points has been Washington's demand to access India's vast agricultural and dairy market. "We will not compromise with the interests of our farmers, our dairy sector, our fishermen," Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Thursday. Trump's order also threatened penalties on other countries that "directly or indirectly" import Russian oil, a key revenue source for Moscow's war in Ukraine. Washington has already separately stuck tariffs on sector-specific imports such as steel, autos and pharmaceuticals. Trump said Wednesday he also planned an "approximately 100 percent tariff" on semiconductor imports, but with "no charge" for companies investing in the United States or committed to do so. Shares in Taiwanese chip-making giant TSMC surged as Taipei said it would be exempt, but some other Asian manufacturers took a beating. Companies and industry groups warn the new levies will severely hurt smaller American businesses, while economists caution that they could fuel inflation and hit growth. With the dust settling on countries' tariff levels, at least for now, Georgetown University professor Marc Busch expects US businesses to pass along more of the bill to consumers. An earlier 90-day pause in these higher "reciprocal" tariffs gave importers time to stock up, he said. But although the wait-and-see strategy led businesses to absorb more of the tariff burden initially, inventories are depleting and it is unlikely they will do this indefinitely, he told AFP. "With back-to-school shopping just weeks away, this will matter politically," said Busch, an international trade policy expert. The tariffs leave lingering questions for partners that have negotiated deals with Trump recently. Tokyo and Washington, for example, appear at odds over key details of their pact, in particular on when lower levies on Japanese cars will take place. Generally, US auto imports now face a 25-percent duty under a sector-specific order. Toyota has cut its full-year profit forecast by 14 percent because of the tariffs. Japan and the United States also appear to differ on whether the "reciprocal" tolls of 15 percent on other Japanese goods would be on top of existing levies or - like the EU - be capped at that level. China and the United States, meanwhile, currently have a shaky truce in their stand-off but that is due to expire on 12 August. Chinese exports to the United States tumbled 21.7 percent last month, official data showed, while those to the European Union jumped 9.2 percent and to Southeast Asia by 16.6 percent. The EU is seeking a carveout from tariffs for its key wine industry. In a recent industry letter addressed to Trump, the US Wine Trade Alliance and others urged the sector's exclusion from tolls, saying: "Wine sales account for up to 60 percent of gross margins of full-service restaurants." Trump has separately targeted Brazil over the trial of his right-wing ally, former president Jair Bolsonaro , who is accused of planning a coup. US tariffs on various Brazilian goods surged from 10 percent to 50 percent Wednesday, but broad exemptions including for orange juice and civil aircraft are seen as softening the blow. Still, key products like Brazilian coffee, beef and sugar are hit. - AFP
