Tonga Chamber of Commerce and Industry Inc.

International Organisation : Pacific Islands Center

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IMPORTANT NOTICE FEEDBACK REQUIRED : Required information for Tonga's TRIMs Notification to WTO

Dear all,

For clarifications on the required information, please refer below:

The key to the illustrative list below are the words: require and restrict. The measures in question coming within the scope of the questions should either require or restrict the stated measure.

1.       The measure anticipated here should require the use of a domestic product. An example would be a measure requiring that furniture sold in Tonga must use timber grown in Tonga.

2.       The measure anticipated here would require an enterprise importing a certain amount or value of imported products to export the same amount or value of local products. An example would be if Skips Joinery were required, as a precondition to importing timber, to export the same amount or value of furniture.

3.       The measure anticipated here would restrict the import by a company of a product to the  amount or value of local product that the company exports. An example would be if Skips Joinery had restrictions on the importation of timber related to the amount of furniture it exports.

4.       The measure anticipated here would restrict the use of imported products by an enterprise to the amount of foreign exchange generated by the enterprise. An example would be if Skips Joinery had restrictions relating the amount of timber they could import to the amount of foreign exchange they generated.

5.       The measure anticipated here would restrict  the export of any product whether by value volume or proportion of value or volume to local production. An example would be if Skips Joinery had restrictions stating that they could only export TOP$1million worth of furniture or ten tonnes of furniture or half of the value or volume of local production of furniture.

Are there any trade-related investment measures which require?

(a) the purchase or use by an enterprise of products of domestic origin or from any domestic source, whether specified in terms of particular products, in terms of volume or value of products, or in terms of a proportion of volume or value of its local production; or This would cover any measure requiring the use of an amount of domestic product. This is otherwise described as import substitution.

(b) that an enterprise's purchases or use of imported products be limited to an amount related to the volume or value of local products that it exports. This would cover any measure requiring that the amount of imported products used by an enterprise be limited to the amount of local products that is exported.

2. Are there any trade-related investment measures which are mandatory or enforceable under domestic law or under administrative rulings, or compliance with which is necessary to obtain an advantage, and which restrict:

(a) the importation by an enterprise of products used in or related to its local production, generally or to an amount related to the volume or value of local production that it exports; This would cover any measure restricting the use of imported products in local production to the amount of local production exported. In other words, the use of imported products for local production is contingent on export performance

(b) the importation by an enterprise of products used in or related to its local production by restricting its access to foreign exchange to an amount related to the foreign exchange inflows attributable to the enterprise; or  This would cover any measure restricting the use of imported products for local production to export performance of local production, but the slight difference here is the volume of foreign exchange actually generated by the enterprise determines the use of imported products.

(c) the exportation or sale for export by an enterprise of products, whether specified in terms of particular products, in terms of volume or value of products, or in terms of a proportion of volume or value of its local production. This would cover any measure restricting exports, by product, volume or value

 

Tourism Tonga launches new window to the world

Tonga’s hotly anticipated new tourism website www.thekingdomoftonga.com was launched to the global online community last week. The website was developed by top New Zealand creative agency Logan Brooke Communications for Tourism Tonga as part of our newly launched “Tonga. The Real Polynesia” marketing campaign and has been heralded as an essential tool for launching Tonga into the 21^st Century digital era. “The word “Tonga” is Googled over 500,000 times a year” said Tourism Tonga president Sue Gardiner. If Tonga’s new tourism website can be used to convert just 1% of these searches then we would have increased our yearly visitor numbers by 10% - a fantastic achievement when global tourism numbers are trending downwards.”

Stage One of the campaign involved creatively re-branding Tonga, investigating emerging tourism market segments in Tonga, and creating a website which would represent the real Tonga to the world.

In an effort to publicise Tonga’s diversity, most of Tourism Tonga’s members participated in the creation of the new website, with each member contributing to their own unique web page. To date there are over 100 member pages on the site. “The website will particularly focus on publicising Tonga as a year-round destination in a deliberate strategy to expand the tourist season, which is currently centred around the 4 month Whale-watching season.” Said Tourism Tonga Media and Marketing Officer Reece Proudfoot. “We will focus on showcasing Tonga’s unique cultural and natural heritage, as well as our beautiful beaches and world class  activities on offer.”  Stages two and three of the website launch, which are scheduled for the first half of 2010, will involve adding exciting new tools to increase visitor numbers such as an online travel agent education tool, an online booking system, links to social media sites such as facebook and twitter, a suggested itineraries and specials page, and a “my tonga” page created especially for the benefit of Tongan’s living abroad.

The “Tonga. The Real Polynesia” campaign forms part of Tourism Tonga’s larger 2010 marketing plan, which includes building on the current partnership with the Ministry of Tourism through joint domestic campaigns aimed at building the profile of tourism within Tonga. “2010 will be a very important year for Tourism in Tonga” said Tourism Tonga president Sue Gardiner. With data showing that 77% of all travel research now taking place online, this website will ensure a strong online presence for Tonga, thus enabling us to capitalize on this growing trend, for the benefit of all Tongans”.

For further information, please contact the Tourism Tonga Marketing Department on tt_coms@live.com or (676) 8732416
Ends.

Download Tourism TongaTin Can Mail Jan2010 newsletter for your reference

MEETING REPORTS - January 2010

Date	Meeting	Reports
January 2010
7th Thur	Tonga National Expo Committee
11th Mon	Youth Enterprise Scheme Competition Committee	Download 1st YES Competition Meeting 11-01-10 final
12th Tue	EPLD Tonga Steering Committee
12th Tue	Introduction to Chinese Embassy Meeting	Download Meeting Report CHINESE EMBASSY
14th Thur	EPLD Tonga Steering Committee
18th Mon	Tonga National Expo Committee
19th Tue	World Bank Meeting	Download Copy of World Bank Meeting Report 19_01_10
21st Thur	Youth Enterprise Scheme Competition Committee	N/A
22nd Fri	Consultation on Developing a Trade Policy Framework for Tonga	Download Copy of consultation on TPF MLCI 18-01-10 to 27-01-10
25th Mon	First Council Meeting for year 2010
25th Mon	National Committee World Expo 2010 Meeting	Download Minutes_25 Jan 2010 (National Committee World Expo 2010 Meeting)
25th Mon	World Bank Meeting	Download Copy of Meeting with IFC-WB on survey and WAIPA 25-01-10
25th Mon	World Bank Pacific Youth Study Team Meeting	Download Copy of meeting with World Bank consultants on Youth Employment 25-01-10
26th Tue	World Bank Pacific Youth Study Team Meeting	N/A
27th Wed	Umbrella Sub-Committee Meeting
27th Wed	Workshop on Developing a Trade Policy Framework for Tonga	Download Copy of consultation on TPF MLCI 18-01-10 to 27-01-10
27th Wed	Reserve Bank of Tonga Meeting (GDB Forecast)	Download Meeting Report_GDP Forecast_27 1 10
28th Thur	Japanese Embassy Meeting	Download Meeting Report_Japanese Embassy_28 1 10
28th Thur	Royal Constituency Boundaries Commission Mtg	Download Meeting Report_Royal Constituency Boundaries Commission_28 1 10
28th Thur	Youth Enterprise Scheme Competition Committee	N/A
29th Fri	Review-in-Line & Advisory Personnel Mission	Download Meeting Report 290110 AUSAID