Just before the Pacific ACP Trade Ministers Meeting (PACTMM) opened in Vanuatu on 31 July 2007, the Deputy Head of the Pacific desk in the EC’s DG Development sent the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat (PIFS), which helps coordinate the negotiations, an email that stated the Pacific’s allocation under the Regional Indicative Programme (RIP) of the European Development Fund (EDF) would be cut by 48% if it does not sign up to an EPA and by 26% if a goods-only agreement is concluded.