Inefficient, excessive, and opaque border procedures, documentary requirements and controls add unnecessary time and cost to trade. Administrative barriers of these kinds further distance Forum Members from each other’s markets and international markets, thereby diminishing the Pacific region’s economic potential. Ultimately, if not addressed, this will impede the regional economic integration envisaged by the 2050 Strategy for the Blue Pacific Continent. The aim of the Pacific Trade Facilitation Initiative is to address administrative barriers at borders.
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In 2023, the Pacific Trade Facilitation Strategy and Roadmap (Pacific Trade Facilitation Strategy) was endorsed by Forum Trade Ministers.
The Pacific Trade Facilitation Initiative sits under the ‘Deepening Forum Markets’ thematic area of the Pacific Aid for Trade Strategy 2020-2025, and the ‘Resources and Economic Development’ of the 2050 Strategy for the Blue Pacific Continent.
Trade facilitation – the simplification, modernisation and harmonisation of import, export and transit processes – is important for reducing the time and cost of moving goods across borders.
According to the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific, in eleven Forum Members, the implementation of trade facilitation means stands at 41 percent, significantly lower than the Asia-Pacific’s average of 65 percent, and Australia’s and New Zealand’s average of 97 percent. This means there is significant scope for improvement in the Pacific region’s trade facilitation ecosystem.
The Pacific Trade Facilitation Initiative is a multi-stakeholder partnership that supports Forum Members to engage in regional actions to reduce the time and cost of trading across borders.
The Forum Secretariat coordinates the implementation of the Pacific Regional Trade Facilitation Strategy.
The Pacific Trade Facilitation Coordinator is responsible for:
- establishing the Pacific Trade Facilitation Committee;
- organising meetings of the Pacific Trade Facilitation Committee;
- developing a 5-year workplan to implement the Pacific Trade Facilitation Strategy, which will be informed by the Strategy’s Action Plan that was developed in partnership with implementing agencies;
- establishing the M&E Framework for the Pacific Trade Facilitation Strategy;
- liaising with development partners to mobilise resources to implement the Pacific Trade Facilitation Strategy; and
- publishing Pacific Trade Facilitation Newsletters.