Meeting on Strengthening Inter- island Shipping and Logistics - escap

<strong>Meeting</strong> on Strengthening Interisland
Shipping and Logistics in the
Pacific Island Countries
Presentation by
IACT Project Team
Land Resources Division-SPC
The IACT Project is funded by the European Union and implemented by
The Land Resources Division of the Secretariat of the Pacific Community

Case Study 2
Products and their Supply Chains:
A Case Study of Rotuma-Tuvalu Bi-lateral
Trade Agreement

Background
• Rotuma-Tuvalu BTA established in 1 October 1998
• Challenges and problems prevented a functional BTA:
-Shipping
- Importer’s capacity to sustain orders (Tuvalu-side)
-Lack of organisation on the supply side (Rotuma-side)
• Early 2012, SPC through the IACT project brought key
stakeholders together to facilitate re-activation of Rotuma-
Tuvalu BTA

TUVALU
20 tonnes
Space
ROTUMA
FIJI

Operational Logistics
•Once a month, Tuvalu ship departs Suva Port to Rotuma ,
subject to the confirmed orders by the Tuvalu importers.
•Combined free space for 20 tonnes of fresh and frozen
commodities.
•Commodities from Rotuma are loaded on the ship (FOB),
en-route to Funafuti and other islands in Tuvalu.
•Currently, the Tuvalu ship returns straight back to Suva port
from Funafuti.
•The shipping agent, however, is willing to divert the ship
back to Rotuma on its way back to Suva Port to pick-up
commodities and/or passengers destined for Fiji (PAID, no
longer FOB), subject to confirmation by both GoT and GoF
as the negotiation is ongoing.

Lessons based on Rotuma-Tuvalu
BTA Case Study
•The increased production of trade commodity and a
reliable shipping service are essentially complementary
to promoting economic development.
•There is opportunity to add commodity trade volume to
existing shipping services or routes in PICs creating
business opportunities for farmers/growers/ producers,
exporters, shipping companies, importers, etc., to me
meet consumer/customer demand