WORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONWT/COMTD/N/9
7 October 1999
(99-4206)
Committee on Trade and Development Original:  English
MELANESIAN SPEARHEAD GROUP TRADE AGREEMENT
Notification from Papua New Guinea
The following communication, dated 3 August 1999, has been received from the Government
of Papua New Guinea with the request that it be circulated to WTO Members.
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In reviewing Papua New Guinea's responsibilities as a member of the World Trade
Organization (WTO), and consistent with the decision by the leaders of the Melanesian Spearhead
Group (MSG) at their recent meeting in Port Vila  to make the MSG Trade Agreement complaint with
WTO requirements, the Government of Papua New Guinea wishes to formally notify the WTO of the
MSG Trade Agreement.1
The MSG Trade Agreement is a preferential trade agreement amongst the
four (4) independent Melanesian States of the South Pacific region and this includes0 Papua New
Guinea, Fiji, Vanuatu and the Solomon Islands.  Established in 1984, the agreement allows for
duty-free trade in selected products among the member countries.
Being a preferential trade arrangement among a group of developing countries, it is
considered appropriate for the MSG Trade Agreement to be notified under the provisions of theEnabling Clause, which spells out the rule and disciplines for preferential arrangements among the
developing countries.  Therefore, the notification of the MSG Trade Agreement is now being made
under the provisions of the Enabling Clause.
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1The text of the Agreement is circulated in document WT/COMTD/21.