Maru slams Fiji trade decision

Business

TRADE, Commerce and Industry Minister Richard Maru has described Fiji as a “dishonourable country”.
This followed Fiji’s recent decision to allow only “household personal volumes” of Trukai Rice, Ox and Palm corned beef and Lae Biscuits into the country.
“PNG must now take a very serious trade sanction against Fiji. Enough is enough. I call them a very dishonourable country. They go into signing trade agreements and never honour the agreements,” Maru said.
“Last year they came here, spent five months on what we call an import risk assessment on our rice, Ox and Palm, and biscuits.
“They went back and when we wrote to them, they never acknowledged our letter. After five months, they say: Oh PNG, you are only allowed to bring household quantities of those products into Fiji.
“This is a huge insult to Papua New Guinea. Because if you say a whole carton or container is a risk, it is as risky as a can of that product.
“We were not interested in that risk assessment because we wanted to bring only house hold quantity. We wanted to export large volumes of those products into the Fiji market.”
Last month, the Biosecurity Authority of Fiji issued a statement which outlined conditions that had to be complied with when PNG’s Trukai Rice, Ox and Palm corned beef and Lae Biscuits were brought to Fiji.
“BAF will allow up to 10kg/22.04lbs of each product to be imported into Fiji for personal consumption per individual person,” BAF said in the statement.
Meanwhile, Maru said because Fiji and PNG would not enter a new Melanesian Spearhead Agreement with member countries.
“We cannot trust Fiji and should not waste our time and efforts with Fiji.