Pacific Island Countries Trade Agreement
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Pacific Island Countries Trade Agreement (PICTA) aims to establish a free-trade area between all fourteen Forum Island Countries. As of November 2006, it had been signed by twelve countries:
- Cook Islands
- Federated States of Micronesia (FSM)
- Fiji
- Kiribati
- Nauru
- Niue
- Papua New Guinea (PNG)
- Samoa
- Solomon Islands
- Tonga
- Tuvalu
- Vanuatu
As of March 2008, six countries had announced that domestic arrangements had been made enabling them to trade under the agreement:[1]
After entry into force, countries commit to remove tariffs on most goods by 2021. As of April 2008, The Forum Island Countries are also negotiating two other free-trade agreements, the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) with the European Union, and the Pacific Agreement on Closer Economic Relations (PACER) with New Zealand and Australia.
It is important to note that the PICTA trade agreement discussed here covers only trade of goods. As of April 2008, there is an ongoing negotiation to design and agree on a protocol to include trade in services and the temporary movement of natural persons (a broader concept than the GATS' Mode 4).
[edit] References
- ^ PICTA status report
- ^ "Solomon Islands Ready to Trade Under PICTA", Pacific Forum Island Secretariat
- ^ Vanuatu ready to trade under PICTA , People's Daily Online
[edit] External Links
 |
This economics or finance-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
