Juffa says trade ban on Fiji premature

Oro Governor Garry Juffa has described the decision made by Trade, Commerce and Industry Minister Richard Maru, to ban imported goods from Fiji as a “premature” decision and not in the best in the interest of the country.
Governor Juffa said the government needs to understand why Fiji is banning our Corned Beef and Rice and if they have genuine reasons for doing that, the government needs to improve on those areas.
Juffa said the Rules of Origin is a possible reason why Fiji has decided to ban PNG’s Corned Beef and Rice.

“Rice and Beef are products imported from Australia and they not sourced locally, they are processed here, packaged and exported to Fiji and other countries and this could be one of the reasons for Fiji to ban our products” said Juffa.
He said under the Rules of Origin, Fiji has every right to ban any product that does not constitute to be a PNG product.
The Governor also stressed that Fiji has a very high standard when it comes to Health, Quarantine and Bio Security and in cases like this; Fiji will be asked to provide reasons why they can’t accept our products.
He said those reasons can then be examined and refuted which is the normal procedure in any Trade Agreement.
“If we feel that Fiji is wrong and if we are able to refute them to the satisfaction of World Trade Organization standards; then we take it back to Fiji and if they continue to refuse, then we can take it to World Trade Organization for arbitration”
“Every nation has the right to put in place their own standard, requirements, laws and policies to protect their industry and their consumers, and that’s what Fiji has done! Why we are also upset? We cannot impose our standards on any other nation’s economy” he said.
Juffa said the problem here in PNG is when other countries are striving to lift their standards; PNG is still lowering its standards.
Meanwhile governor Juffa said when it comes to issues such as this, it’s better for politicians to get advice from the Technical people and experts so better decisions can be made instead of irrational decisions.
He said sometime it’s better to even learn from small Island countries that have been doing well on the Trade Market. PNGFM/ PNG Today