Rules of Origin vital to the effectiveness of any trade agreement, but what about the Pacific?

As Commerce Minister Simon Power noted when announcing the conclusion of the review of trading rules between New Zealand and Australia "an important aspect of [CER] and its success is that both countries have continued to work at it to ensure it remains a living agreement." The same could be said of any successful trade agreement, however, the attention paid to the rules of origin for the CER stands in stark contrast to work done on keeping the rules for our Pacific neighbours up-to-date. This submission from Oxfam New Zealand calls on New Zealand and Australia to immediately improve the rules for Pacific exporters.

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This original research from Oxfam New Zealand aims to learn about economic development in the Pacific from some of the organisations that are doing it successfully. The Pacific has been buffeted by natural disasters, economic volatility, occasional social turmoil and rising numbers of young men and women with unmet expectations. To help overcome these hardships and build a better future for growers, craftspeople and their families, development must be sustainable, generate broad-based benefits, appropriate to the local culture, and scalable to make a significant contribution to the region’s needs. There are important lessons to be drawn from some of the most exciting initiatives in the Pacific.

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The World Bank last year estimated that US$75-100 billion per year is needed for poor countries to adapt to climate change, if global warming levels remain at 2 degrees Celsius. The non-binding pledges made at Copenhagen last year by rich countries will see levels move towards a staggering 4 degrees Celsius. The US$100 billion a year pledged by rich nations at Copenhagen is nowhere near enough the amount needed to adequately help vulnerable nations deal with the ramifications of climate change.

In this report, published to coincide with the re-opening of climate negotiations in Bonn, Oxfam argues that climate finance needs to be doubled to at least US$200 billion per year by 2020. The report shows how rich countries can raise hundreds of billions of dollars in public finance each year, using methods that won’t break the bank. Increasing the amount of climate financing is a critical investment between rich and poor countries in creating a common future. Reducing the impacts of climate change runs deeper than rich countries simply cutting down on their emissions - how rich countries help developing countries curb their emissions is equally as important. More money is needed to foster cleaner development in developing countries.

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Behind the official statistics, farmers, manufacturing workers, migrant workers, waste-pickers, and women working unpaid in the home all over the world are asking the same question: ‘What hit us in 2009?’. Oxfam’s research on the global economic crisis in 12 countries, involving some 2,500 individuals, is combined in this report with the findings of studies by universities, think tanks, and international organizations. Oxfam’s report reveals the depth and complexity of the impacts of the global economic crisis, and the vulnerabilities and resilience of poor people and countries worldwide. The crisis has highlighted social protection as a development issue, and the importance of managing risk and volatility at all levels. This crisis will not be the last, but if one of its lessons is that reducing vulnerability and building resilience are the central tasks of development, then future crises may bring less suffering in their wake.

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Aid plays a role in saving millions of lives, and yet despite its achievements poverty continues to cast a shadow over the lives of some 1.4 billion people worldwide. This has opened up questions over the effectiveness of aid and lately, unleashed a barrage of criticism, with critics using individual examples of failed aid to argue that all aid is bad and should be reduced or phased out altogether. This is both incorrect and irresponsible.This report examines the evidence, and finds that while there is much room for improvement, good quality 21st century aid not only saves lives, but is indispensable in unlocking poor countries’ and people’s ability to work their own way out of poverty.

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