25 Jul 2007

Forum Island Countries urged to quickly implement PICTA

10:13 am on 25 July 2007

Forum Island Countries have been urged to quickly implement the Pacific Island Countries Trade Agreement, or PICTA.

Only three of 14 Forum Island countries - Cook Islands, Fiji and Samoa - are currently trading under the Agreement which has been in force for more than four years.

The deputy secretary general of the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat, Peter Forau, opened the PICTA Parties Meeting in Port Vila yesterday calling for Forum Island countries to work together to get PICTA operating..

Kiribati, Nauru, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Tonga and Vanuatu are yet to complete requirements to announce trading under PICTA.

Niue is yet to complete notification, while the Federated States of Micronesia and Tuvalu are yet to ratify it, while Palau and the Marshall Islands have not yet signed the deal.