case for trade-based development assistance? Fiji and the sugar protocol

Fiji exports sugar to the European Union under the preferential market access provisions of the 1975 Sugar Protocol. This paper argues that substantial economic and social benefits have accrued to Fiji as a result of the international trade generated by the Sugar Protocol. However, both the preferential prices and the guaranteed access that Fiji has to the European Union sugar market under the Sugar Protocol may start to erode in the next 12 years. Therefore, Fiji's sugar industry should begin a process of trade-led adjustment in which preferential prices and market access are used both to sustain efficiency improvements and minimize the social consequences of restructuring.