26 March 2025
Yaoundé, Cameroon: Pacific Trade Ministers and senior officials convened in Yaoundé on the margins of the World Trade Organization’s (WTO) 14th Ministerial Conference (MC14), reinforcing a unified regional voice at the global Trade meeting.
The meeting brought together the six Pacific WTO members represented by the Honourable Sakiasi Ditoka, Minister for Foreign Affairs and External Trade of Fiji and the Honourable Fata Ryan Schuster, Minister of Commerce, Industry and Labour of Samoa, and senior government officials from Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Tonga, and Vanuatu.
The meeting was chaired by the Honourable Fata Ryan Schuster and supported by the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat.
Deliberations reflected a shared commitment to advancing trade outcomes that supported a resilient, inclusive, and sustainable Blue Pacific Continent. The meeting highlighted the importance of leveraging the multilateral trading system to drive economic prosperity, safeguard ocean-based livelihoods, promote food security, and strengthen climate resilience across the region. The meeting also considered a coordinated Pacific approach to MC14, reaffirming a cohesive strategy to elevate the region’s influence in global trade decision-making.
A priority focus of MC14 is on advancing WTO reform, to ensure the WTO remains relevant, inclusive, and development oriented. For the Pacific WTO members, meaningful reform must be development-focused, address capacity constraints, deliver practical outcomes that strengthen participation, and secure equitable benefits from the global trading system.
Progress on fisheries subsidies remains a central priority for the region. Ministers emphasised the importance of advancing negotiations on harmful subsidies that support overcapacity and overfishing whilst welcoming the entry into force in September 2025 of the Agreement on prohibiting subsidies to illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing.
For Pacific WTO members, a clear Ministerial decision from MC14 is essential to inject momentum to continuing negotiations and conclude additional provisions on overcapacity and overfishing that would help protect ocean resources, support sustainable livelihoods, and uphold the long-term interests of the Blue Pacific.
Minister Schuster highlighted the importance of unity and strategic clarity and encouraged the Pacific delegations to secure outcomes that addressed structural inequities in global trade, safeguard livelihoods, and enhance climate and economic resilience, stressing the urgency of solutions tailored to the Pacific region’s unique circumstances.
Ministers concluded their meeting with a strong commitment to sustained collaboration and strategic advocacy throughout MC14.
The Forum Secretariat’s delegation is led by Desna Solofa, Deputy Secretary General – Governance supported by H.E Ambassador Mere Falemaka, Professor Chris Noonan, and PIFS officials from Suva and Geneva.
[ENDS]
