Welcome to the web page for the Regional Trade Facilitation Programme. The programme aims to support and improve market access of Forum Island Countries’ export of goods into the regional and international markets. 

ABOUT THE REGIONAL TRADE FACILITATION PROGRAMME

The Regional Trade Facilitation Programme (RTFP) is designed for the Forum Island Countries (FICs)* and funded by Australia and New Zealand. This programme emanated from the Pacific Agreement on Closer Economic Relations (PACER)** which itself provided for the development of an appropriate, efficient and transparent framework of trade facilitation measures in the Pacific region. 

The programme, intended to also assist in the efforts for greater integration of Forum Island Countries into the international economy, is practicable and is consistent with other regional and international trade facilitation agreements and initiatives. The programme which commenced in 2005 will run for a period of five years. The RTFP activities will improve, harmonise and strengthen the valuable elements through practical implementation of Customs procedures, Sanitary and Phytosanitary measures and Standards & Conformance processes.

The RTFP consists of a Customs component, a Quarantine component and a Standards & Conformance component. All elements of the programme focus on harmonisation on procedures, processes and policies which will affect the movement of goods across the whole Pacific region. The effects of the growing trading blocs do give rise to the need for the FICs to ensure that for them to take advantage of this trend, they would need to work within and advance their regional integration goals before advancing out to a fuller integration into the global economy. The programme recognises that in order to do this with the limited resources available and the specific unique challenges of the Pacific region, a regional approach was considered an appropriate.

The RTFP is coordinated and managed by the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat. The Customs and Quarantine components are delivered by the Oceania Customs Organisation (OCO) and the Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC) respectively. The Forum Secretariat is also delivering the Standards and Conformance component of the RTFP with a specific project related to Food Standards Project being coordinated and delivered by the World Health Organisation.

REGIONAL TRADE FACILITATION PROGRAMME COMPONENTS AND OBJECTIVES 
A : CUSTOMS
Delivered by the OCO, it is to facilitate and expand trade opportunities throughout the region by simplifying and harmonising Customs practices, procedures, systems and processes in line with international standards and international best practice. 

B : QUARANTINE (BIOSECURITY)
Delivered by the Land Resources Division of the SPC, it aims to facilitate imports and exports without increasing risk to human, animal and plant health by improving and harmonising biosecurity laws and operations. 

C : STANDARDS & CONFORMANCE
Managed by the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat, it is aimed at eliminating Standards and Conformance related impediments to current and potential trade of the FICs, while ensuring adequate safeguards from potentially harmful imports and exports through appropriate standards and conformance measures. 

D : COORDINATION AND MANAGEMENT
The overall programme coordination and management is provided by the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat. 

---

The following persons are directly responsible for the various components of the RTFP: 

Management/Coordination: 
Sumbue Antas (Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat) email

Customs:
Mr Kulu Bloomfield (Oceania Customs Organisation) email
Mr Robert Taylor (Oceania Customs Organisation) email

Quarantine:
Sidney Suma (Secretariat of the Pacific Community) email
Roy Masamdu (Secretariat of the Pacific Community) email 

Integrated Food Standards Project:
Tony Hazzard email

---

Forum Island Countries are Cook Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, Kiribati, Nauru, Niue, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Republic of Marshall Islands, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu

Countries which are Parties to the PACER are Australia, Cook Islands, Fiji, Kiribati, Nauru, New Zealand, Niue, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands and Tonga.