Consequently, rather than a single cause, a combination of factors explains why the Fijian garment industry went into stagnation then steady decline: the political crisis of 2000; the end of a significant number of 13-year tax concessions; increasing competition from China and South-East Asia; the loss of the ICS (a clear consequence of single-market dependence) and the MFA; and reaction to impending trading agreement changes. Today the industry is being hollowed out, hampered by uncertainty, the loss to Asia of former customers and a cost structure that is uncompetitive by international garment sector standards. Given the lack of a single factor, this poses a range of potential challenges for policy-makers and those interested in the continued viability and health of the industry.

In response to this ‘crisis’, and the lobbying of Fiji’s Prime Minister, Laisenia Qarase, there have been recent moves to breathe life back into SPARTECA, but little that is likely to create a more profitable and sustainable Fijian garment industry. In August 2003, Australian Prime Minister, John Howard, offered to conduct research on the garment industry in order to help its restructuring and he instructed his officials to ‘prepare a package of substantial technical support to ease the industry’s transition into the global market’ (Fiji Government Online, August 16, 2003). This resulted in a ‘scoping study’ of the industry by the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) in which it stated that ‘Australia feels some sense of responsibility for the industry’s future’ (DFAT 2003: 2). The same report also noted that ‘a declining garment industry brings the prospect of adverse socio-economic impacts, including increased unemployment and growing poverty in the Suva area’ (DFAT 2003: 6). The somewhat hurried passing of the Textile, Clothing and Footwear Investment Program Amendment Bill in late 2004 guaranteed Fiji’s export agreement under SPARTECA for an additional seven years while Australia sought a ‘structural adjustment’ of Fiji’s garment industry (Pacific Magazine, December 21, 2004). However, increasing the earnings through niche marketing of higher quality garments is hampered under SPARTECA, which allows access only to cheaper textiles for production. More recently, Prime Minister Qarase has also sought to diminish the rules-of-origin quota level, thus endorsing Fijian factories to re-export garments with even less local input.

Finally, some factories see hope in more ‘local’ markets. This includes tapping into Fiji’s substantial tourism sector but also in the Pacific through PICTA, which came into force in April 2003. Through PICTA, 14 Pacific Island states have agreed to mutually remove tariffs and other barriers in order to free up trade in the region. The eventual aim is to move towards a regional free-trade area with the larger states (Fiji, PNG, Tonga and the FSM) eliminating trade barriers by 2010, with small island states and least developed countries having until 2012 (Oxfam 2003). Already several factories are placing more emphasis on building markets in Tahiti, Hawai’i and New Caledonia, though this trade remains small in scale.