The European Union will scrap trade preferences for exports from Belarus because of violations of worker rights in the former Soviet state, the bloc's trade chief Peter Mandelson said on Friday.
"Europe attaches great importance to work and labour conditions, and increasingly to environmental safeguards also. In this case Belarus is clearly flouting ILO (International Labour Organisation) standards," he said in a statement.
Belarus exports will now be subject to the EU's standard import tariffs, which are three percentage points higher than preferential rates, the European Commission said, adding the move would affect about 10 percent of Belarus exports to the EU.