Job Vacancies at PANG. (January 22, 2008)
PANG is expanding.  The Pacific Network on Globalisation has a big mandate - to work on trade issues across 14 Island countries - and is looking for good people to help PANG fulfil its important work.  PANG is currently looking to fill the position of PANG Coordinator, and Administration and Accounts Officer.  Please download full job descriptions (including details on applying for each position) here .  Applications close February 8th, 2008.

Call to protect Pacific jobs and reject imposed Free Trade agenda. (January 22, 2008)
Following the news that Flour Mills of Fiji (FMF) has closed down two milling factories and put on hold $30 million worth of projects (that would have created 120 new jobs) PANG has called on Pacific governments to reject foreign imposed free trade policies that will lead to business closures and more job losses.  See article in the Fiji Times here .

Making links - PANG IEC Officer Wes Morgan, ANU Pacific Studies Convener Katerina Teaiwa and PANG Coordinator Roshni Sami. 

PANG meets with Australian National University - Pacific Studies Convener. (January 22, 2008) 
PANG met with the Pacific Studies Convener at the Australian National University (Katerina Teaiwa) during a recent visit to Suva, Fiji.  Discussions centred on ways that PANG may be able to work with researchers  (both students and academics) within Australia in formal or informal capacities.  It was also noted that the new Government in Australia is currently reviewing it's engagement with the Pacific Island countries. Pang is very keen to develop partnerships with researchers across the region interested in trade and economic justice issues in the Pacific.

Heat rises in the Pacific in response to interim trade deal. (December 15, 2007)
Angry voices are being raised in the Pacific Islands following Fiji and PNG's decision, under threats to Pacific livelihoods, to sign on to an interim trade deal with the EU.   Island Business magazine is calling the Economic Partnership Agreement negotiations a "sell out" while NGOs like Oxfam New Zealand have decried the deal as undermining meaningful Pacific integration.  Read the Island Business article here, and press releases from Oxfam NZ here.  

PNG and Fiji pushed into interim trade deal.  (December 7, 2007)
It appears there is very little to celebrate in PNG and Fiji's signing of interim-trade deals with the EU.  The EU has met virtually none of the key development priorities put forward by the Pacific negotiators.  The EU has made no commitments on aid-for-trade, and the concessions on European market access for tuna exports have been minimal. In return, Fiji and PNG have abandoned Pacific-wide solidarity, and lost policy space for setting development priorities in the future.  One official in Brussels described it as: "In effect, we have abandoned almost all forms of traditional trade policy.  In return, we got nothing [from the EU]".  Read the full story here.

EU stampedes over Pacific in rushed deal on trade.  (November 24, 2007)
Under intense and grossly unfair pressure, Papua New Guinea and Fiji have split from their Pacific counterparts and initialled an interim agreement on trade in goods with the European Union.  The EU had threatened Pacific livelihoods by refusing to rule out raising tariffs in 2008 on key exports of tuna and sugar.  The implications of this bullying are far reaching.  Read a feature article, including background information to the EPA negotiations, here.  This article appeared in the Fiji Times on Saturday, November 24.

The Bittersweet Truth - The EU, Sugar and Poverty - On World Poverty Day (October 17, 2007)
PANG delivers a warning that free trade agreements with the EU, Australia and New Zealand could lead to increasing poverty in the Pacific. Dramatic trade liberalisation could lead to de-industrialisation and unemployment. This story also highlights 'divide and rule' tactics by the EU in negotiations for a new Economic Partnership Agreement with the Pacific.  Read the full story here...

Pacific Regional NGOs issue statement on trade at Pacific Leaders Forum. (October 15, 2007)
This year’s annual gathering of regional NGOs - the 2007 Pacific Regional Civil Society Organisation Forum - has issued a strong statement to Pacific Leaders, urging them to stand up for the rights of the Pacific in negotiations for a new trade deal with the EU.  Read full story here, and read Pacific CSO Forum Statement here...

Stand Strong - 2007 Pacific Regional CSO Forum delivers a message to Pacific  leaders.  Photo: Maureen Penjueli

'The EPA is about Free Trade, not Development'. (October 15, 2007)
PANG Coordinator Roshni Sami delivered a rousing speech to the Pacific NGOs annual forum. Her presentation to the 2007 Pacific Regional Civil Society Organisation Forum, in Tonga, focussed on the implications of Free Trade for the Pacific, especially the current negotiations for a new Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) with the EU. . See full text of her speech here...

PANG warns Pacific negotiators to be wary of ‘circling sharks’.  (October 7,2007)
A warning that any trade concessions offered to the EU in negotiations for a new ‘Economic Partnership Agreement’ may be demanded by Australia and NZ as well – with devastating consequences for the Pacific.  Australia and NZ form a much larger share of Pacific trade, and tariffs collected on imports from our ‘Big Brother’ neighbours provides essential revenue for public services in much of the Pacific.  Read more here...

Find out about the September 2007,  Global Day of Action against the 'Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs)' the EU is forcing on its ex-colonies.  PANG invited representatives from the EU to come and drink kava with representatives of Pacific society, to share growing concerns about the bully-tactics the EU is using to force the Pacific to sign an agreement that offers them little.  It was an interesting kava-ceremony. (September 27, 2007) Read more here...

PANG organises a public action to raise awareness about European bans on kava products.   The EU is constantly lecturing developing countries that they should be developing export industries to help alleviate poverty.  In the late 1990s the Pacific had a vibrant kava export industry – worth around $US200 million each year.  In 2001, the EU imposed a ban on kava-products which decimated the Pacific export industry over night. The World Health Organisation says kava exports can safely begin again, the time is right for the EU to lift the ban. (September 27, 2007) Read more here...

PANG Releases an official paper on the European Kava Bans "Time to Make Trade Fair - Lift the Kava Bans".  PANG has prepared an in-depth analysis of the European bans on kava products.  Feel free to use and share this paper. (September, 2007) Available here…

• News and updates on Pacific Trade Issues. Click here for the latest news.
  
• PANG and our work in the Pacific, including our Pacific Trade Education Programme (PTEP) and our Fair-Trade research project.
• Information about Pacific trade agreements and negotiations, and critical analysis on trade issues.
• Who’s doing what – Government contacts on trade, how trade agreements are negotiated, the national and regional government decision-making process, CSO work on trade issues, Private Sector work on trade related issues.
  
• Conferences on trade and aid issues, 2006 onwards.
  
• Extensive links to other fair trade organisations and networks around the world.