The 10th EU-Pacific Trade Committee Meeting was held in Brussels from February 6-7, 2025, bringing together officials from Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, and the EU, with observers from seven Pacific nations seeking to join the 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐦 𝐄𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐜 𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩 𝐀𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 (𝐢𝐄𝐏𝐀).

Representing Tonga at this high-level meeting was the CEO of the Ministry of Trade and Economic Development (MTED), Distaquaine Tu’ihalamaka

𝗞𝗲𝘆 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗰𝘂𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗰𝘂𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝗼𝗻:

Strengthening the iEPA & new member accession

Trade in services & investment facilitation

Geographical indications & Kava Exports

National iEPA implementation plans & development programs

Customs cooperation, rules of origin & dispute settlement

The upcoming EU-Pacific Business Forum

𝐄𝐱𝐜𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐍𝐞𝐰𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐚! The EU has approved Tonga’s accession to the iEPA! The final notification will be issued once internal procedures are completed. Niue and Tuvalu have also been accepted.

Fiji has been endorsed to co-chair the next EU-Pacific Trade Committee Meeting in 2026.

This is a great news for local exporters with capacity to export local produce to the EU market