Pacific

The EU's trade relationship with four Pacific states (Papua New Guinea, Fiji, Samoa and the Solomon Islands) is set by an Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA).

The EPA was ratified by the European Parliament in January 2011 and by Papua New Guinea in May 2011. The government of Fiji started applying the agreement in July 2014. Samoa acceded to the EPA on 21 December 2018 and the Solomon Islands did so on 17 May 2020. Both have been applying it since then.

Accession to the EU's Pacific EPA is open to other Pacific ACP states. On 27 January 2025, the EU Council of Ministers adopted a proposal for the accession of Niue, Tonga and Tuvalu to the EPA. The three ACP states will start applying the agreement 10 days after they have notified the completion of their internal adoption procedures to the EU. Accession processes are also underway with the Federated States of Micronesia, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, Timor Leste and Vanuatu.

ACP Pacific countries: Cook Islands, Fiji, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Nauru, Niue, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Timor Leste, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu

Trade picture

• Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, the Solomon Islands, Timor Leste, Tonga and Vanuatu are currently members of the WTO.
• EU imports from the Pacific region mostly comprise palm oil, prepared and preserved fish, coffee and sugar.
• The EU's main exports to the Pacific region mostly comprise ships and boats, machinery and equipment, and mineral oils.

The EU and Pacific states

The Economic Partnership Agreement between the EU, Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Samoa and the Solomon Islands opens up trade in goods with the EU. The agreement includes:

• Duty-free and quota-free exports from Papua New Guinea and Fiji into the EU as of 1 January 2008
• The asymmetric and gradual opening of their markets to EU goods, taking full account of differences in levels of development and sensitive sectors  
• Papua New Guinea opened up its market to 88% of imports from the EU from day one
• Fiji is opening up its market to 87% of imports from the EU over 15 years
• All three countries have excluded some products from sensitive sectors and those important for revenue from this liberalisation
• Samoa opens up its market to 80% of imports from the EU over 20 years.
• Pacific States can reintroduce duties and quotas if imports from the EU disturb or threaten to disturb the local economy
• Rules on technical barriers to trade and sanitary and phytosanitary measures to help Pacific exporters meet EU import standards
• Efficient customs procedures and better co-operation between administrations

The agreement is open to the other ACP Pacific countries to join.

Committees and Dialogues

The EU and the Pacific meet regularly to discuss issues and best practices and oversee the proper functioning of the agreement.

• Meetings and documents

Trading with the Pacific

• Importing into the EU from the Pacific
  • EU trade defence measures on imports from the Pacific
• Exporting from the EU to the Pacific
  • Trade defence measures in force in Pacific
• Trade relations are part of the EU's overall political and economic relations with Fiji, Papua New Guinea and Timor-Leste
• Sustainability impact assessment on EU-African Caribbean Pacific (ACP) Trade Relations of the Economic Partnership Agreements (EPA)
• EU-Pacific States Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA): Creating opportunities for EU and Pacific businesses
• See how the interim Economic Partnership Agreement is benefitting exporters in the Pacific EPA Group