The Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO) has issued on 1 March 2013 a call for proposals for the second tranche of the European Union (EU)-supported programme on Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade (FLEGT).

"Our GIs are worth €54.3 billion worldwide, and they represent 15 % of our total food and drinks exports, ” Dacian Cioloş, Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development, said after the publishing of the results of a study on the value of the EU name protection scheme for all food and agricultural products ("geographic indications" or "GIs") on March 4.

Fiji has called on the European Union to meet the June deadline established by the Pacific ACP to conclude its comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) with the EU.

The rules of origin for fisheries export is one of the key areas being discussed under the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) between the EU and the Pacific African Caribbean and Pacific countries (PACP).

A red alert is on for two of Fiji’s major export commodities—fish, which earns around $200 million in foreign exchange annually—and sugar, which rakes in around $100 million a year.
This follows the possible blacklisting of Fiji by the European Union (EU) for having weak laws to tackle illegal fishing, and  the possible increase in duty for sugar exports, in case the country does not ratify the interim Economic Partnership Agreement (iEPA).

For the past decade, consumption of organic products in central and northern Europe has grown substantially, motivating producers to convert their crops and acquire organic certifications. However, "in recent years the supply of organics has increased so much that it is now greater than demand; as a consequence, average prices are going down," explains Fernando Martín, Manager of a Spanish cooperative devoted to the handling and commercialisation of agricultural and sub-tropical products.

Papua New Guinea has been coming out second best in trade negotiations because it has not been taken seriously, officials are reported to have said during local debates in parliament two weeks ago, calling for the development  an entity who can plan in advance for trade negotiations (Friday, 17 February).

Officials of the Fijian Government assures that despite the long process of the Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) negotiations, mutual beneficial outcomes could be reached soon.
Pacific nations have been in talks with the EU to reach an EPA agreement since 2002.

It is important for the Pacific island states to win as much concession as they can in the negotiations for an Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) with the European Union, in order to fund their capacity to export, Dr Steven Ratuva, Senior Lecturer in Pacific Studies at the University of Auckland’s believes.

An new publication assessing the Trade and Development Cooperation Agreement (TDCA) between South Africa and the European Union (EU) is available online. The paper concentrates mostly on the TDCA trade objective- the expanding and liberalising trade in goods, services and capital between the parties-, with an emphasis upon the agricultural trade.