GSP+ possibly in Q1 2017
View(s):The government is confident of regaining trade concessions from the European Union (EU) in the first quarter of next year. Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister Dr. Harsha De Silva said on Tuesday at the Sri Lanka Economic Summit’s International Trade Development and Logistics forum that the government was given this assurance during meetings with top EU officials recently. It was stated that following a submission of the application to the EU Parliament by the end of this year the trade concessions could be revived during the first quarter of 2017. In this context, he believed that Sri Lanka had “repaired” its relationship with Europe adding that in connecting with global trade the country needs to be more open and create space for entrepot trade and plug into global trade.
Sri Lanka submitted its application to the EU to regain its lost trade concessions under the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) + mid this year. A visiting EU delegation in January this year highlighted that it would take a period of at least 10 months to regain GSP +. These trade concessions have been linked to the country’s compliance with human rights and labour rights conventions. European Commission Deputy Head of GSP Plus Section and DG Trade Nikos Zaimis in January this year stated it could take up to a maximum of 10 months to process the entire application and get a nod of approval. -(SD)