PACER Plus

According to RNZI, the report, by the Pacific Network on Globalisation, or PANG, was based on leaked negotiating texts from talks on the regional agreement, which is still being finalised.

It accuses Australia and New Zealand of aggressively advancing their own interests, at the expense of their smaller neighbours, and called for a proper impact assessment.

One of the report's chapters was written by Auckland University's Jane Kelsey, a prominent critic of free trade agreements.

Edwini Kessie's comment comes after Papua New Guinea and Fiji poured cold water on the current form of PACER Plus.

Pacific Islands Forum leaders last September said they wanted PACER Plus negotiations, which began in 2009, to be concluded by mid-2016.

Edwini Kessie says the infant industry clause has been agreed to in principle and if finalised will allow island nations to choose areas they would like to tax, with the possibility of re-instating tariffs on industries previously classified as duty free.

Dr Kessie says the clause will make for a unique agreement.

The announcement came at the end of the Pacific Islands Forum Trade Minister meeting in Rarotonga, which was attended by representatives from 14 Pacific countries plus Australia and New Zealand.

The ministers also agreed to intensify consultations with civil society and public sector organisations to try and enhance Pacific countries' presence in international trade.