European Parliament expresses satisfaction on progress achieved by Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: The European Parliament has expressed satisfaction on the progress achieved by Pakistan in enacting new laws and developing new institutions for implementation of 27 core conventions of GSP+ specially the National Action Plan for Human Rights.

In a meeting of International Trade Committee (INTA) held in Brussels at the European Parliament to discuss the 2nd Biennial Assessment Report of GSP+, the Parliament hoped that Pakistan would continue to engage with the EU and ensure to bridge implementation gaps during the next two years of reporting on GSP+.

The Committee on International Trade also agreed to deliberate upon possibility of up-scaling relationship with Pakistan from a beneficiary of GSP+ Scheme to an FTA partner in future, said a message received here.

The process of monitoring of compliance of GSP+ for next biennial assessment report for 2018-2019 would start in March 2018 by the European Commission.

Secretary Commerce Mohammad Younus Dagha had travelled to Brussels to follow developments with regard to on-going deliberations by the EU Parliament and to undertake necessary engagements with policy makers in European Parliament, European External Action Service and European Commission.

It specifically appreciated establishment of National Human Rights Commission and National Action Plan for Human Rights among other measures. During the session it was announced that GSP+ monitoring missions shall undertake visits to Pakistan, Philippines, Kyrgyzstan and Bolivia in second half of 2018 to interact with stakeholders engaged in implementation of mandatory conventions for GSP+.

Pakistan is one of the 10 beneficiaries of EU’s GSP+ Scheme. As a result of duty free access available to Pakistan in 28 member states Pakistan’s exports to the EU have increased from 4.54 billion Euros in 2013 to 6.29 billion Euros in 2016 which implies an increase of 38%. This duty free access has been crucial for Pakistani products to maintain their competitiveness in the EU market vis-à-vis similar products originating from India, Turkey, Vietnam and China.

Ms. Naghmana Hashmi, Ambassador of Pakistan to the EU and Mr. Omar Hameed, Economic Minister of Pakistan to the EU also accompanied Mr. Mohammad Younus Dagha, Secretary Commerce in the meeting of INTA committee.