MSG Green Trade Project: 1st national workshop Vanuatu

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 3 August 2022 from 9:00am – 3:00pm at the Grand Hotel in Port Vila, Vanuatu. 

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 coconut oil. 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 market situation for coconuts and coconut products from the perspective of the private sector and farmers; the issue of standards and certification in Vanuatu; and current trade agreements in the region. 

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 Vanuatu and the challenges facing the coconut value chain, particularly as an export product. 

Next steps: as a follow-up to this workshop, the national consultant, supported by the national authorities of Vanuatu, the MSG Secretariat and UNCTAD, will pursue its work on compiling NTM regulations and re-assessing the development of voluntary sustainability standards (VSS) for coconut oil based on the previous assessment of organic certification in the coconut oil value chain. This will result in the development of a coconut oil 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