A petition by civil societies from around the Pacific was sent to Pacific Trade Ministers today, 24 August, calling for them to not reach any conclusion on the PACER-Plus talks, until all texts have been released and there has been a fully funded independent and comprehensive impact assessment.

The Pacific Network on Globalisation stated that a push to conclude PACER-Plus this month was intensifying.

Trade Ministers from the Pacific Islands Forum will meet in Christchurch on 26 August, with the expectation that the text of the agreement will be finalised. If finalised a signing ceremony of PACER-Plus is expected in November or December without, perhaps, the largest two Pacific island economies, PNG and Fiji.

The petition was signed by over 55 organisations representing significant sector groups including feminists, environmentalists, trade unions, community groups, churches, customary landowners, LGBTQI, health groups, disability groups, youth movements, academics and more than 200 individuals from across the Pacific calling for greater scrutiny of the current PACER-Plus deal.

Adam Wolfenden, a Campaigner for the Pacific Network on Globalisation said the petition argues that the push to conclude talks at this Ministerial means that the deadline is driving the process.

"Furthermore, the signatories endorsed a recently released social impact assessment “Defending Pacific Ways of Life: A Social Impact Assessment of PACER-Plus”, and are calling on our governments to heed its findings and not conclude PACER-Plus as they further explore the human, environmental and social impacts in their respective countries," he said.

PNG earlier this month withdrew from PACER-Plus stating it didnot have any benefits to them under the current text and that they were not interested in the negotiations.

Petition arguments

The petitioners maintain that:

• The right of governments to regulate – the current text and the attempts to protect this right are inadequate and at worst meaningless due to their requirement to not breach a country's commitment, rendering any right to regulate below the commitments in PACER-Plus
• The right to food – the ability to be able to produce and have access to healthy, culturally appropriate food is under threat from PACER-Plus. The lack of real benefits for Pacific producers coupled with the weak and inadequate protections for domestic industries will undermine the Pacific's ability to support the right to food;
• Health impacts – Non-Communicable diseases are a major problem in the region and commitments under PACER-Plus will see those exacerbated due to an increase in cheap, unhealthy foods. This is coupled with potential brain drain of health professionals out of the Pacific as well as potential undermining of health services
• Gendered impacts – Women will experi;ence the negative impacts of PACER-Plus the most, from loss of formal employment, gender-based barriers to trade, and additional care burdens among others;
• Failure of the OCTA impact assessment – the Office of the Chief Trade Advisor's commissioned Social Impact Assessment is seen as a last minute attempt to quieten the voices of civil society but it lacks independence and contains poor methodology;
• Lack of development outcomes – PACER-Plus is underpinned by the belief that trade agreement will facilitate greater investment in the Pacific Island countries, yet the evidence on this is mixed at best. The push to have the Pacific under take a legally binding restructure of their economies will benefit Australia and New Zealand investors not Pacific Island people.

The petition calls for endorsements to this assessment and governments to:

• Release the negotiating texts and market access schedules to allow transparency in understanding the level of commitments that countries are undertaking;

• Make no agreement to conclude PACER-Plus until there has been a fully-funded, independent, social impact assessments;

• Publish the findings of the social impact assessment and seek a mandate from their people as to whether or not committing to PACER-Plus in in their interest.