An international meeting in Apia, Samoa has heard that a new fund from the European Union (EU) to support agriculture development will be shared among the 76-member African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Group of States.

The budget allocation is 45 million euros, of which 15 million euros is for cotton production, an item that is not prominent in any Pacific Island. However, Samoa's Ambassador to the EU, His Excellency Tuala Falani Chan Tung, said that the fact there were funds from the EU to start with was 'very encouraging'.

Ambassador Tuala, who represents the Pacific on the ACP Committee of Ambassadors based in Brussels, Belgium, is visiting Apia for the meeting.

'The financing agreement has been signed and there is now a need to come up with concrete proposals to use the funds,' he said.

Ambassador Tuala referred to the separate negotiations for the Pacific Island Countries Trade Agreement (PICTA), where some Pacific states believed the initial funds from Australia and New Zealand were insufficient. However, those negotiations agreed to start with what was available and see if more funds would be needed later. In the same vein, Ambassador Tuala suggested that the ACP group make a start and move forward.

The meeting in Apia brings together a range of stakeholders from government, the private sector and development partners. They are consulting on the ACP All Agricultural Commodities Programme to help identify regional priority needs that could be addressed under the programme. SPC...’s Land Resources Division, the Fiji-based agriculture and forestry technical service arm of SPC, is helping to raise awareness of the programme.

The consultations will also help to develop inputs for the workplans of five key partners: the Common Fund for Commodities, the Food and Agriculture Organization, the International Trade Centre, the World Bank and the UN Conference on Trade and Development.

Separate consultations will be held later with ACP members in Africa and the Caribbean. SPC, 28/02/08.