Pacific Islands Environment Outlook - UNEP

SOCIAL POLICIES 47
quota (165 348 tonnes per year) under the Sugar Protocol annexed to
the Lomé Conventions. This quota covers about 45 percent of the
country's sugar exports and provides benefits of €40–50 million per
year. The gross income from Fiji's sugar exports to the EU in 1998
amounted to almost €92 000.
In November 1998, the European Commission released studies on
the impact on ACP countries of its proposed Regional Economic
Partnership Agreements (REPAs). General conclusions of the studies
were: 1) In most cases, LDCs have little to gain from REPAs in terms of
market access to the EU. (Total funds provided by the EC to island
developing states for the period 1976–1995 were €4 447 million. For the
period 1996–2000 (Lomé IV bis) the package foreseen for the National
and Regional Programmes amounted to €1 024 million. They can keep
non-reciprocal trade preferences in any case. 2) The loss of nonreciprocal
preferences would hardly affect the export performance of
many ACP countries. 3) By contrast, the direct or indirect effects of not
renewing the protocols could dramatically affect the exports of some ACP
countries. However, the studies did not estimate these effects as this
would have required separate studies. 4) The negative impact on
customs revenues varies considerably, but could be substantial for some.
The main conclusions summarised for the Pacific region were: The
eight Pacific ACP countries have not been organized as a regional
group, but belong to the South Pacific Forum along with eight other
countries. The report suggests that a Free Trade Area (FTA) could be
negotiated with the Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG), a sub-group
comprising Papua New Guinea, Fiji, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu. A
more general Partnership Agreement could cover all eight Pacific ACP
countries. The lack of institutional capacity of the MSG would need to be
addressed. Besides, the interests of the other members of the South
Pacific Forum would need to be considered, notably Australia and New
Zealand. The latter in particular would probably require the same
access to the ACP Pacific countries as granted to the EU. A step towards
the above direction was taken on 1 June 1999 when Trade Ministers of
the South Pacific Forum endorsed in principle a Free Trade Area between
the Forum Island Countries in the region.
The termination of the sugar protocol and the preferences for
canned tuna would have large implications for Fiji in terms of
employment, export earnings and thus the government's budget. Even if
the protocols remained, both sectors would need to adjust, probably
with some support from donors. For the seven other Pacific ACP
countries, the termination of Lomé preferences would have no
significant effect. Effects on imports are also likely to be small.
References:
De Groot, Albert and van Nes, René, 1998. Introducing reciprocity into the trade
relations between EU and the Pacific countries. Netherlands Economic Institute,
September 1998, Rotterdam.
ECSIEP/PCRC, 1998. Reflection of the Programme of Action for the Sustainable
Development of Small Island Developing States in the National Indicative
Programmes and the Regional Indicative Programme of the Pacific ACP. June
1998. On the internet: http://www.antenna.n./ecsiep/lome/sidspoa.html.
European Commision, 1997. Annual Report (as required by Article 318 of the
Fourth Lomé Convention) on Co-Operation between the European Union and the
South Pacific Region 1997. Brussels, 1998.
European Commission, 1997. Annual Report (as required by Article 318 of the
Fourth Lomé Convention) on Co-Operation between the European Union and the
Republic of Fiji 1997. Brussels, 1998.
European Commission, 1997. Annual Report (as required by Article 318 of the
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New Guinea 1997. Brussels, 1998.
European Commission, 1997. Annual Report (as required by Article 318 of the
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Kingdom of Tonga 1997. Brussels, 1998.
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Fourth Lomé Convention) on Co-Operation between the European Union and Tuvalu
1997. Brussels, 1998.
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Tuononen, Heli (compiled by), 1999. The European Union's Co-operation with Small
Island Developing States in the Framework of the Barbados Programme of Action.
European Commission, Brussels, April 1999.
United Nations, 1994. Report of the Global Conference on the Sustainable
Development of Small Island Developing States, Bridgetown, Barbados, 26 April-6
May 1994. United Nations, New York, 1994.