The second Solomon Islands national Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG) Green Trade Project and joint IMPACT-SAFE* workshop took place on 19 and 20 June 2023 from 9:00am – 4:30pm at the Heritage Park Hotel in Honiara, Solomon Islands.

A broad spectrum of participants attended, ranging from government officials to private sector representatives. Participants included producers and exporters of kava and other agricultural commodities. The first day of the workshop focused on reviewing and validating the progress made over the past year under the MSG Green Trade Project. Highlights of the day included the presentation of the voluntary sustainability standards (VSS) assessment report on kava and the unveiling of the Solomon Islands kava export guide. Day one culminated with UNCTAD presenting policy recommendations connected to its work on VSS and non-tariff measures (NTM).

On the second day, the focus shifted to the NTM data collection carried out under the MSG Green Trade Project and its ongoing continuity under IMPACT. The Pacific Community (SPC), a co-organizer, detailed SAFE’s contributions towards supporting commodity exports, particularly regarding sanitary and phytosanitary measures (SPS) in the European Union and region-wide.

Throughout this interactive workshop, participants made comments and suggestions on the work presented. It also offered an avenue to all the stakeholders to discuss and debate about the challenges of exporting, and in particular the difficulty to comply with NTMs and find information about them.

Summarized outcomes:

• MSG Green Trade Project: Participants gave their approval for the two reports presented by UNCTAD and recognized the valuable NTM data collected for potential inclusion in the NTM TRAINS database. Policy recommendations, particularly concerning the implementation and present status of the National Kava Quality Standard, are set to be finalized following further consultation with the Government.
• IMPACT / SAFE: Participants acknowledged the activities to be undertaken under these two European Union funded projects. They will offer their support to implement the different activities and will get in touch with the implementation partners if they identify specific areas of support.

Next steps:

• MSG Green Trade Project: The national activities will be finalized, before proceeding to the regional activity phase of the project.
• IMPACT / SAFE: The current planned workflow will be pursued.

To know more about NTM and VSS:

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

*IMPACT stands for “Improving Pacific Island Customs and Trade” and SAFE for “Safe Agriculture trade Facilitation through Economic integration in the Pacific”. Both projects are funded by the European Union.