The first National Workshop on the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) Green Trade Project for Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG) countries found place on 30 June 2022 from 9:00am – 1:00pm at the Solomon Kitano Mendana Hotel in Honiara, Solomon Islands.

The workshop was held in a hybrid format in which national participants attended physically while regional and international participants attended online. The workshop involved key government officials as well as the private sector, including producers and exporters of kava. The workshop focused on raising awareness about how the MSG green Trade Project supports green trade and sustainable development by creating synergistic linkages between the two areas.

Workshop participants heard several presentations explaining: the objectives of the project; the role of non-tariff measures (NTMs); the importance of kava in the local economy, from a private sector and government perspective; and the objectives of the Pacific Quality Infrastructure (PQI) project and its relevance for Solomon Islands trade.

During this workshop, participants learned about the MSG Green Trade Project’s objectives, how it will be implemented, and its timeline. Furthermore, this first national workshop allowed to reunite a large scope of stakeholders to discuss about green trade in the Solomon Islands and the challenges facing the kava value chain, particularly as an export product.

Next steps: As a follow-up to this workshop, the national consultant, supported by the Solomon Islands national authorities, the MSG Secretariat and UNCTAD, will pursue its work on compiling NTM regulations and assessing the development of voluntary sustainability standards (VSS) for kava. This will result in the development of a kava export guide. The findings and conclusions of this work will be presented in another national workshop to be held in early 2023.

To know more about NTM and VSS:

• Non-tariff measures (NTM) data collection  
• Voluntary sustainable standards (VSS) assessment