14 Nov 2014

PANG calls for more debate on free trade in Pacific

12:50 pm on 14 November 2014

The Pacific Network on Globalisation or PANG says it wants to encourage more Pacific Islanders to engage in debate over the dangers free trade agreements pose to Pacific nations.

The group has just launched a briefing paper outlining the ways it says free trade agreements can undermine customary land systems and facilitate the privatisation of land.

PANG's trade justice campaigner, Adam Wolfenden, says the paper is designed to set out a host of complex issues in an accessible way for people who don't necessarily have a legal or trade background.

"Basically we want a lot more Pacific Islanders to understand the very real threats that are out there for custom land from free trade and free trade agreements and then to be able to engage in these discussions and in these debates to determine for themselves how the Pacific should proceed."

Adam Wolfenden says PANG has long argued that the ideology of free trade is in direct conflict with the realities of the Pacific and its customary land system.

Full interview

Get the RNZ app

for ad-free news and current affairs