International Trade, Transparency, and Gender Equality: The Case of the Pacific Agreement on Closer Economic Relations (PACER) Plus

This report examines the potential implications of the transparency provisions in the Pacific Agreement on Closer Economic Relations (PACER) Plus for gender outcomes in the region of nine Pacific island countries (9PICs) –Kiribati, Nauru, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu, the Cook Islands, and Niue – that signed the PACER Plus agreement with Australia and New Zealand in 2017.

It also examines the socioeconomic, gender, and trade profiles of the 9PICs and discusses the gender implications of trade. The 9PICs share the economic features, challenges, and opportunities of small island developing states. The main challenge is their “smallness” with respect to area, population, and economies, which is a key driver of their economic vulnerability because it implies small domestic economies and a narrow resource base, resulting in limited production, export, and employment opportunities.

Given these challenges, the PACER Plus agreement has taken into account the different levels of development through the progressive dismantling of tariffs and other trade restrictions that differ across the 9PICs, as well as through financial and technical support to be provided by Australia and New Zealand to the 9PICs in the implementation stage.