Mohsin Aziz, Chairman All Pakistan Textile Mills Association (APTMA), has hailed the landmark decision of the European Parliament (EP) that voted to approve draft legislation for the new EU scheme for Generalised System of Preferences (GSP) under which Pakistan will be joining the countries that will be entitled to receive duty free treatment from 2014.
Pakistan has been trying hard for a number of years to attain this status. Mohsin Aziz acknowledged the efforts of the federal commerce minister Makhdoom Amin Fahim and commerce secretary Zafar Mahmood for successfully pleading Pakistan's case with the European Union. He also appreciated the decisiveness of the President European Commission, President European Council and EU Parliament in taking up this matter and according approval to the draft legislation. The passage of the draft act in EU would pave the way for the concessionary mechanism to come into force from 2014. The scheme will replace the current GSP scheme from January 2014, under which some of the existing criteria for GSP Plus beneficiaries have also been changed.
This will make Pakistan and a few other countries eligible to apply for GSP Plus, provided they fulfil the other criteria such as the commitment to effectively implement 27 international conventions relating to good governance, human rights and sustainable development etc. Mohsin Aziz urged the concerned Ministries to complete the groundwork for ensuring that compliance formalities with regard to the adoption and ratification of the prescribed convention are completed in time. In case Pakistan is able to meet all the criteria for GSP Plus, its exports to the EU under the concessionary tariff lines will receive duty free treatment from 2014 onwards.-PR