[Source: Ministry of Trade, Co-operatives, SMEs and Communications/Facebook]

Fiji and the European Commission have further strengthened the bilateral trade relations, through the full implementation of the Interim Economic Partnership Agreement between the European Union and the Pacific States.

Deputy Prime Minister Manoa Kamikamica met with Executive Vice-President of the European Commission and Commissioner for Trade Valdis Dombrovskis yesterday.

The IEPA is a trade and development agreement, which liberalises bilateral trade, in order to promote sustainable development and the integration of Fiji into the world economy.

While the European Union had already eliminated customs duties and quotas on all imports originating from Fiji, the Government has now taken the decision to phase out the duties in the committed tariff lines on imports from European Union Members States.

These are referred to as committed basket of tariff lines.

Kamikamica says tariffs on selected imports from the EU will remain or continue to apply, primarily to protect Fijian food security and the development of domestic value chains.

This is called the exclusion basket of tariff lines.

Kamikamica says the current tariff phase out will also ensure that cheaper inputs are available for products made in Fiji, increasing the competitiveness of locally produced goods, and supporting both local industrial development and integration into global value chains.

The EU and Fiji signed the IEPA in 2009.

While the EU started provisional application immediately afterwards, Fiji decided to start applying it in 2014.