Fiji Dishonouring Trade pacts with PNG

The trade war with Fiji is about to heat up substantially if Trade Minister Richard Maru has his way.

Maru says Papua New Guinea should cut all trade ties with Fiji because Fiji has been dishonorable.

This follows Fiji’s response to the Ox & Palm trade saga, after conducting an import risk assessment in PNG.

Minister Maru says it is an insult that it will not be tolerated.

He says there is a proposal before the government for strong economic sanctions to be placed against Fiji after Fiji says only household quantities of PNG products can be brought into their country.

“We did not agree to the import risk survey for small quantities of goods to go into Fiji, we want commercial exports,” Minister Maru told a news conference.

He says PNG has wasted 15 years negotiating this deal and the current move by Fiji shows they are not interested in a fair deal.

And the trade sanctions he is proposing will have regional implications.

“We will not sign onto the new MSG Trade Agreement (MSGTA3) or any other agreement that Fiji is a part of.”

In this trade war Fiji may come out as the loser as it currently exports far more to PNG than PNG does to Fiji.

But Maru says he doesn’t see PNG and Fijian investments in each country being affected if these sanctions are imposed.