ISLAMABAD: A European Union (EU) GSP+ Monitoring Mission on Wednesday met Commerce Secretary Sualeh Ahmad Faruqui and discussed issues related to 27 Conventions.
The EU Mission comprising officials from the European External Action Service (EEAS) and the European Commission’s Directorates-General for Trade and for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion, is in Islamabad to assess an effective implementation of 27 International Conventions Pakistan is a signatory to.
Last year, the EU on extended GSP plus status for Pakistan, with six new Conventions along with expressing its concerns about the situation of human rights, press freedom, the death penalty and child labour-related issues.
Pakistan will continue to enjoy GSP plus status till 2022, after which, the EU will announce a new criterion to qualify for the scheme.
For the new GSP Scheme (2024 -34), the European Commission has published the new proposed legislation for the GSP scheme (2024- 34) on September 22, 2021.
The new proposed scheme aims to improve key features of the scheme to better respond to the evolving needs and challenges of GSP countries as well as reinforce the scheme’s social, labour environmental and climate dimensions. It will be in place for 10 years.
The expansion in the list of International Conventions is from 27 to 32 that beneficiary countries will have to ratify and implement.
The new Conventions include the following: (i) two new instruments on human rights on the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) and the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict (OP-CRC-AC); (ii) two new instruments on labour rights including ILO Convention No 81 on Labour Inspection and ILO Convention No 144 on Tripartite Consultation; (iii) One new instrument on governance on the UN Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime; and (iv) one new instrument on climate change on the Paris Agreement on Climate Change (2015), replacing the Kyoto Protocol (1997).
According to an official statement issued by the EU delegation to Pakistan, GSP+ provides wide-ranging tariff preferences for imports to the EU from vulnerable developing countries to support poverty eradication, sustainable development and their participation in the global economy as well as reinforce good governance. Eligible countries like Pakistan can export goods to the EU market at zero duties for 66 per cent of tariff lines.
This preferential status is conditional on GSP+ countries demonstrating tangible progress on the implementation of 27 international conventions on human and labour rights, environmental protection, climate change and good governance.
As stated by Executive Vice-President and Commissioner for Trade Valdis Dombrovskis in 2021, “For five decades, the EU GSP has supported vulnerable countries to grow in a sustainable manner by giving them preferential access to the EU market. This has helped beneficiary countries to diversify their economies and create jobs. It has also galvanised beneficiary countries into improving human and labour rights, the environment and good governance”.
As underlined by High Representative/Vice President Josep Borrell Fontelles, “The GSP scheme is all about the EU’s and Pakistan’s joint commitment to sustainable development.”
GSP+ has been very beneficial for Pakistani business increasing their exports to the EU market by 65 per cent since the country joined GSP+ in 2014. The European Single Market, with over 440 million consumers, is Pakistan’s most important destination. Pakistan exports worth EUR 5.4 billion (approximately PKR 1.2 trillion), namely garments, bed linen, terry towels, hosiery, leather, sports and surgical goods.
During the mission, meetings with the government, the UN Country Team, International Labour Organization (ILO), business and civil society representatives as well as other stakeholders will take place.
The findings of the mission will be part of the next GSP report which is due to be presented to the European Parliament and the Council towards the end of 2022.
The European Union continuously monitors the implementation of relevant 27 international conventions drawing inter alia on the reports and information by the UN and other international agencies that are the custodian of the respective convention.
The EU regularly sends monitoring missions to assess the situation on the ground and to subsequently reflect its evaluation in the publicly available report to the European Parliament and to the EU Member States in the Council. So far, three biennial reviews have been concluded in 2016, 2018 and 2020, respectively.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2022
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