ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has pressed the European Union to keep the next GSP+ trade framework development-focused and avoid imposing new conditions on beneficiary states, Commerce Minister Jam Kamal Khan told a visiting EU monitoring mission in Islamabad on Friday, warning that the EU’s recent withdrawal of preferences for Pakistani ethanol had already damaged farmer incomes.
The Generalized Scheme of Preferences Plus grants Pakistan highly preferential access to EU markets in return for implementing 27 international human-rights, labor-rights and governance conventions. The EU is Pakistan’s largest export destination, making the scheme a lifeline for its textiles-led, export-dependent economy and a major source of manufacturing and rural employment.
The EU monitoring mission, led by Sergio Balibrea of the European Commission’s DG TRADE and accompanied by Ambassador Raimundas Karoblis, arrived in Islamabad this week as Brussels prepares for the next biennial GSP+ review.
Pakistan is one of the program’s largest beneficiaries and is seeking renewal amid rising economic pressures and intense competition from regional exporters.
“The Minister urged that the new GSP+ framework should maintain its development outlook without imposing excessive new conditions on beneficiary countries,” the commerce ministry said in a statement after Khan met the EU delegation.
