WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  WT/COMTD/N/29 
17 September 2008 
 
 (08-4316) 
Committee on Trade and Development Original:   English 
  
NOTIFICATION OF REGIONAL TRADE AGREEMENT 
 
1. Member(s) notifying:  
Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands and Tonga 
2. Date of notification:  
28 August 2008 
3. Notification pursuant to: 
[   ] Article XXIV:7(a) of GATT 1994 
[   ] Article V:7(a) of GATS 
[ X ]  Paragraph 4(a) of the Enabling Clause 
4. Parties to the Agreement:  
Cook Islands, Fiji, Kiribati, Nauru, Niue, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, 
Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu. 
Federated States of Micronesia has signed PICTA but is yet to ratify the Agreement.  Palau 
and Republic of the Marshall Islands are yet to accede to PICTA.   
5. Date of signature:  
See Annex 1 of this Notification 
6. Date(s) of entry into Force:  
See Annex 1 of this Notification 
7. Brief description of the Agreement: 
The Pacific Island Countries Trade Agreement (PICTA) is a free trade Agreement among 
the Forum Island Countries (FICs), which is intended to gradually establish a Free Trade 
Area (FTA) among the fourteen FICs.  
 
PICTA entered into force on 13 April 2003 af ter six FICs ratified the Agreement. 
Amendments to PICTA (Articles 5(2), 8(13) an d Schedules II and IV) have been agreed by 
PICTA Parties but are yet to enter into for ce through formal acceptance by all Parties. 
 
The PICTA covers trade in goods between its members but does not cover trade in alcohol 
and tobacco products.  Government Procur ement rules are also excluded from the 
Agreement.  The Agreement also provides a list  of exceptions to ensure that the FICs can 
continue to restrict trade for the usual range of reasons generally a llowed in international 
trade agreements.  This includes the prohibiti on of dangerous goods such as explosives or 
restriction of trade necessary to protect human or animal health.  WT/COMTD/N/29 
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  For the long term, one of the stated objectives of the Agreement is the creation of a single 
market amongst the FICs.  Therefore, it is e xpected that the coverage of the Agreement will 
expand in future to include trade in services, movement of capital and labour. 
8. Text and related schedules, annexes and protocols are: 
[ X ] submitted to the WTO Secretariat (electronic format) 
[   ] available from the following official Internet link(s) 
  WT/COMTD/N/29 
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  ANNEX 1 
 
Parties to the Pacific Islands Trade Agreement (PICTA)  
 
 
PARTIES SIGNED RATIFIED/ACCEDED ENTRY INTO 
FORCE 
Cook Islands  18 August 2001 28 August 2001 13 April 2003 
Federated States of Micronesia 05 April 2006 - - 
Fiji 18 August 2001 16 October 2001 13 April 2003 
Kiribati 18 August 2001 04 June 2003 04 July 2003 
Nauru 18 August 2001 14 March 2003 13 April 2003 
Niue 18 August 2001 26 February 2003 13 April 2003 
Palau - - - 
Papua New Guinea 05 March 2002 05 August 2003 04 September 2003 
Republic of the Marshall Islands - - - 
Samoa 18 August 2001 10 October 2001 13 April 2003 
Solomon Islands 06 August 2002 02 June 2003 02 July 2003 
Tonga 18 August 2001 27 Decem ber 2001 13 April 2003 
Tuvalu 18 August 2001 16 April 2008 16 May 2008 
Vanuatu                      18 August 2001 21 June 2005 21 July 2005 
 
 
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