Pacer Plus threatens weaker Pacific economies: Kaputin

African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Secretary-General, Papua New Guinea’s Sir John Kaputin, says the push by Australia and New Zealand for a Pacer-Plus Agreement poses a threat to small and economically weaker members of the Pacific Islands Forum.
He suggested that since two of the 14 ACP Pacific states, Papua New Guinea and Fiji, have initialled an EPA (Economic Partnership Agreement), the Pacer-Plus Agreement should have been bilateral agreements negotiated with these two countries and not a blanket arrangement that covered the whole region.
Speaking at Australia’s Wollongong University ahead of the Pacific Islands Leaders Forum meeting in Cairns, Australia, Kaputin said in the case of the Pacific ACP States, the negotiations of an EPA with the European Union have triggered the possibility to conclude a Pacer Plus Free Trade Agreement with Australia and New Zealand.
“I’m saying this because I am painfully aware of the difficulties the Forum is facing in identifying supportive capacity to negotiate. They have appealed to all, including the WTO director-general for support,” Kaputin said.
Meanwhile, the ACP chief said he learnt with interest the outcome of the Pacific Trade Ministers Meeting in Samoa recently.
According to the outcome of the meeting, seven of the nine resolutions were concessions to Australia and New Zealand and Pacific trade ministers also resolved to fast-track the commencement of the negotiations by bringing forward the process from 2011 to August this year.
Based on that, Kaputin questioned whether the Pacific is ready for free trade? He also made reference to an article in the region’s leading regional magazine ISLANDS BUSINESS, which posed a question: Is Canberra a bully?
Kaputin pointed out that such behaviour is similar to the case with the EPA negotiations where the economically stronger EU has influenced, if not dictated, the pace and orientation of the process.
According to Kaputin, while Fiji and PNG have initialled interim EPA agreements, seven non-LDCs—Cook Islands, Federated Statse of Micronesia, Nauru, Niue, Palau, Marshall Islands and Tonga—which have not joined the interim agreement so far, have been exporting to the EU under the GSP regime since January 1, 2008. This is a less attractive arrangement than the Cotonou Trade regime.
However, LDCs East Timor, Kiribati, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tuvalu and Vanuatu have been exporting under the Everything But Arms Initiative since January 2008.


Health ministers adopt new action plan

Health Ministers from the Pacific have adopted a new action plan aimed at bringing about major improvements to the health of islands communities in Melanesia, Polynesia and Micronesia.
Dubbed the Madang Commitment for Action, the declaration contains a long list of recommendations concerning major health issues and challenges facing the Pacific islands.
They deal with issues which include:
• Food security and the proposed Pacific Food Summit;
• Climate Change;
• Aid effectiveness in the Pacific;
• The Asia Pacific Strategy for Emerging Diseases and the Pacific Regional Influenza Pandemic Preparedness Project;
• HIV/AIDS;
• Maternal, Child and Adolescent Health;
• Pooled Procurement for Improving Access to Essential Medicines in Pacific Island countries;
• Health systems strengthening and primary health care;
• Human resources for health and the Pacific Human Resources for Health Alliance; and
• Prevention and Control of Non-communicable Diseases;
The World Health Organisation (WHO) and the Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC) gave a report card on how they are working together to help make development assistance for health more effective.
WHO and SPC are helping countries align development assistance with their health priorities in line with international agreements on aid signed in Paris in 2005 and in Accra and Kavieng in 2008.
These called on all parties involved in aid to work towards greater alignment of efforts, collaboration and assessment.
In the Pacific, WHO and SPC are working together through the ‘2-1-22’ (two organisations, one team, 22 countries) approach.
They sought and received support from the ministers for further strengthening of their collaboration.
In addition to WHO and SPC—which have global and regional mandates—technical partners and donors in health include other UN bodies, academic researchers, government aid agencies and non-governmental organisations (NGOs).
"Our job at WßHO is to assist governments and partners make planning, monitoring and accountability systems and processes more robust," said Dr Shin Young-soo, WHO Regional Director for the Western Pacific.
"The aid effectiveness agenda within a country is primarily the responsibility of the government, but WHO is there to help strengthen the capacity of the government to lead and manage the process."
The ministers considered the ‘Framework of Priorities for Health in the Pacific’. This encourages strengthening of countries’ broader health systems, informs donors through evidence-based assessments and stimulates inter-sectoral collaboration to address the social determinants of health.
The ministers were all united in their resolve to improve the health of their communities and that this must be an urgent priority of their respective governments.
On food security, the ministers agreed to support the convening of national food summits in their own countries.
This is to be followed by a regional summit to prepare a declaration on food security and its associated framework for action to be presented to the 2010 Pacific Islands Forum leaders meeting.
Closely linked to food security is climate change and the ministers recognised the impact of climate change on food security.
They agreed that each country should develop and implement clear strategies to mitigate the effects of climate change on food production and food safety and integrate this with national and regional climate change responses.
On climate change, the ministers confirmed the commitment of the Pacific islands countries and areas to implement the Pacific Framework for Action on Climate Change 2006-2015 and the Regional Framework for Action to Protect Human Health from the effects of climate change in the Asia-Pacific Region.
The ministers reaffirmed the vulnerability of their countries and areas to climate change as most Pacific islanders live in coastal zones and atolls and are susceptible to storm surges, coastal erosion, flooding, droughts, high tides and salt water intrusion, the frequency and intensity of which are expected to increase and may result in climate refugees and many risks including to health infrastructures.