The paper outlines the increasing efforts being made by the governments of PICTs to reduce alcohol consumption but while most countries have national licensing regulations in place to restrict the sale of alcohol and legislation to control drink driving, the strength of implementation across the region varies greatly and enforcement systems remain very weak.
The paper shows that:
- Of the 13 PICTs, 10 (CNMI, FSM, Fiji, French Polynesia, Kiribati, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, and Wallis and Futuna) depicted an upward trend in imports of alcoholic drinks, two PICTs (New Caledonia and PNG) depicted a downward trend, and one PICT (Palau) depicted a somewhat flat trend.
- The region as a whole for 2013–2019 showed a downward trend in the value of imports of alcohol.
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Of the PICTs that reported their data by HS headings:
o Beer was the chief import for CNMI, FSM, Kiribati, Palau, Tonga, Tuvalu, and Wallis and Futuna.
o Wine was the chief import for Fiji, French Polynesia, New Caledonia and Samoa.
o Spirits were the chief import for PNG and Solomon Islands.
The paper shows that there is an upward trend in the value of imports of tobacco and manufactured tobacco substitutes in American Samoa, CNMI, FSM, Fiji, French Polynesia, Kiribati, PNG and Vanuatu; a downward trend in the Cook Islands, New Caledonia, Palau, Samoa, Tonga, and Wallis and Futuna and a somewhat flat trend in the Solomon Islands and Tuvalu.