As the second biggest importer and exporter in the Pacific region, Fiji already represents exciting opportunities to foreign investors. The Fiji Governments’ approval of the TFA represents yet another advance in Fiji’s free trade policy as it now takes steps to accession of the agreement. The TFA is also in line with Fiji’s Trade Policy Framework, recognising the importance of its small and medium businesses. It promises to increase trade effectiveness and reduce costs by:
- improving the exchange of information for better compliance;
- expediting the movement, release and clearance of goods; and
- facilitating trade beyond the TFA through active opportunity for reform.
Key Points
- Fiji Parliament gazetted approval for the World Trade Organisation’s (WTO) Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA) in February 2017, in its strive towards making Fiji the trade, investment and manufacturing hub of the Pacific.
- TFA brings about a global reform in customs procedures. It aims to improve efficiency in trade and moving of goods across borders which can prove to be quite burdensome on small and medium-sized enterprises.
