Fair trade group still has concerns over PACER Plus
Updated
Reports following the latest round of meetings to discuss PACER Plus seem to have settled a few nerves, with more time allocated for research before a deal will be signed. Going into the weekend meetings, it was felt that Australia and New Zealand in particular were advancing negotiations with indecent haste.
Other analysts felt the negotiating skills of the heavyweights of the Pacific Islands Forum were too polished, and the Pacific voices may not be heard. A trade justice campaigner for the Australian Fair Trade and Investment Network, Harvey Purse, has been studying the outcomes document released following the trade meetings in Brisbane.
Presenter: Geraldine Coutts
Speaker: Harvey Purse, trade justice campaigner for the Australian Fair Trade and Investment Network
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PURSE: Well unlike Mr Crean and yesterday we're not quite as happy with the outcomes of the meeting. Essentially yes there's been some movement to slow down on the surface - the negotiations, however we do note that there is pressure still on the island nations to move forward with negotiations on PACER.
COUTTS: And what are those pressures?
PURSE: Essentially the Australian government and the New Zealand government has set down three meetings over the next 12 months and we're not certain and in fact both the Australian and New Zealand government acknowledge that there's a capacity constraint within the islands' ability to handle those negotiations at this stage, and also incorporate the national consultations that need to be done prior to any negotiations becoming substantive. So whilst on the surface there's certainly some movement there, we are concerned about the detail of what's going to happen over the next 12 months.
COUTTS: Look I'd just like you to have a listen to this grab, it's Samoa's deputy prime minister, Mr Misa Telefoni and it points to the question of whether the Pacific Islanders are being bullied and if they have the correct skills to negotiate their own trade deals.
TELEFONI: : There have been people stack in PACER Plus and some even going so far as to say that New Zealand and Australia are trying to exploit us in the islands. Well I always find that to be a little bit patronising because I don't think we can be bullied. I think we're looking at this in a very realistic way and I think there are benefits, very real benefits for us.
COUTTS: That was Samoa's deputy prime minister Misa Telefoni. Now what do you make of that and how much truth is there in that that there is a bit of bullying and pressure being applied?
PURSE: Certainly the Australian and New Zealand governments seem to get their own way when these meetings occur. We find that and it's easy to track back when you look at press releases, ministerial comments from the island nations prior to any meeting with Australia and New Zealand tend to be very different to the agreed outcomes, and very little of what the islands have put up at the beginning is actually involved at the end of the process. I think Mr Telefoni is quite right in that there are some potential bonuses if this is done properly, but that's the key to it, and the actual players acknowledge both on the island side and the Australia New Zealand side that there isn't the capacity to actually negotiate, and that's led to the setting up of OCTA, the Office of Chief Trade Advisor.
COUTTS: Ok look there are a number of points there, but why isn't there or hasn't there been the capacity to negotiate, what's derailed that?
PURSE: Well essentially the islands have limited populations and there have been a large number of these agreements that they've had to try and get their head around along with a large number of other global issues at the moment, such as climate where they need to be involved. And there just simply isn't the resources on the ground and that is acknowledged. So it's more a capacity of the numbers that they've got that are trained in these areas at the moment.
COUTTS: Now there has been a Trade Commissioner appointed or there's an announcement of one and also a commission to be setup in Vanuatu, what do we know about that and will it do any good in getting these negotiations advanced?
PURSE: The proof will be in the pudding so to speak when it is setup, essentially the gentleman has been named, Dr Chris Noonan has been involved in the Pacific for some time. He was involved giving technical advice around PICTA and the European negotiations for example, and in fact there were some quite negative reactions to the way in which the European negotiations went. So it'll be interesting if the good doctor has learnt from that experience and what level of advice he's able to give to the islands as well, that will be the interesting part of this.
COUTTS: And what was wrong with the way the Europeans approached it and part b to that is why have Australia and New Zealand or the perception that they had been rushing too much with these negotiations?
PURSE: The Europeans on the surface again attempted something very similar to Australia by trying to follow the Pacific Islands concept the way in which it's resolved in the Pacific, which is consensus, and their negotiations went forward whilst trying to do these national consultations, and the consultations turned out to essentially be preaching a viewpoint to people rather than actually listening. And that of course is the great fear of what's going to occur here in PACER that really the horse is being put before the cart, that the national consultations need to occur prior to any technical details of PACER being worked out. So that's the real issue here.
COUTTS: Now Mr Purse just very briefly before we go because we're just about out of time, Fiji announced this week that they resigned or withdrawn from PACER Plus, what difference will that make?
PURSE: Well we're not sure quite frankly how that's going to work because the Fijian government has actually given notice of suspending PACER under the articles of the Vienna convention on international conventions on the basis that Australia and New Zealand and the other island nations are not talking to them to try and resolve the issue. Potentially it has a major impact because Fiji is the second largest economy out of the nations, and is really is the key hub for the island nations themselves, the largest being Papua New Guinea. So it will have a major impact if they are not included and at least not having a say in the consultations.
