The meeting, held by members of the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat (PIFS), comprised officials from the Cook Islands, Nauru, Niue, Marshall Islands, Samoa, Tonga and Vanuatu, who were joined by representatives from Australia, New Zealand and the OECD Secretariat.

The Pacific nations claim that they are being targeted by the OECD because they are deemed powerless against the international agency. Comparing the situation to David and Goliath, Mr Iosefa Maiava, Acting Secretary General of the PIFS, stated: 'The seven listed Pacific nations have a combined GDP of around US$1 billion, compared to Australia's annual GDP of around US$300 billion ... these nations do not have the resources of OECD members to address the issue of harmful tax competition. This position is not helped by the trade deficits the Pacific islands have vis-a-vis most OECD nations and the need to balance these against the income from the offshore centres, which can comprise 8-10 per cent of GDP. Such factors have hampered the ability of the listed nations to negotiate on an equal standing with the OECD.'

During the meeting the Pacific nations developed a 'regional position statement' that clearly outlines their concerns over the OECD initiative. It also expressed their desire for good-faith negotiations to arrive at an agreement which will remove the threat of defensive measures by OECD nations. The statement highlighted twelve points including requests to remove the threat of sanctions and other measures for blacklisted jurisdictions that do not comply with the OECD's demands by July 31 of this year, and to commit to negotiations within a more achievable timetable. The Pacific nations declared: 'If the deadline is not lifted and comes into play the membership will have to take recourse to other avenues and fora to resolve the situation.'

The full text of the Pacific nations' twelve-point Regional Position Statement can be found at: http://www.forumsec.org.fj/news/2001/Apr13.htm