Director: State not ready to sign PACER Plus agreement

 THE Government says it is not yet ready to sign the PACER Plus agreement, outgoing trade director Max Rai says.

Rai, (pictured) who is Papua New Guinea’s ambassador designate to the United Nations, said this to delegates at a high level meeting on PACER Plus in Brisbane, Australia.

The Pacific Agreement on Closer Economic Relations (PACER) is an umbrella agreement between members of the Pacific Islands Forum, including Australia and New Zealand, which provides a framework for the future development of trade cooperation.

Rai said Papua New Guinea would not sign because the current form of the agreement did not meet the country’s expectations.

He stated concerns that Pacer Plus was viewed as a mere conventional free trade agreement however Australia and New Zealand were being insistent on a most favoured nation (MFN) provision.

The MFN provision commits parties to automatically give Australia and New Zealand any better treatment offered to a Third Party in both pre-existing and future agreements. 

“PNG and other Forum Island Countries have expressed their opposition to this view and have indicated that our preference is not to have an MFN article in the chapter, as it is not common to find such an article in most free trade agreements,” Rai said.

“The PACER Plus agreement is supposed to be distinctly more flexible and development friendly.

“The flexibility we are seeking is special treatment beyond conventional trade with development provisions such as the global sourcing provision given by the European Union unfortunately, this is not the case in the current PACER Plus formulations.

“The interim Economic Partnership Agreement is the  benchmark  for  the country and we expect something equal or better to what the EU gave PNG to sway us on PACER Plus.”

Rai said Papua New Guinea Government was undertaking an independent review of PACER Plus and its perceived benefits and losses including other existing agreements and arrangements.

He said the policy space had to be maintained to grow and develop new industries and create employment for PNG people.