EU grants Pakistan GSP Plus status

The European Parliament decided yesterday about Pakistan’s future in regards

to the extension of the Generalised Scheme of Preferences, the GSP Plus scheme. Exactly 406 parlamentarians supported the inclusion of Pakistan in the preferential scheme and thus granted Pakistan GSP Plus status until 2017.

This decision will particularly favor Pakistan’s garment and textile industry, which will now have toll free access to 27 European markets. Pakistan’s textile and garment exports have been decreasing in the last few months due to competition from countries like Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, which already profit from exemptions from import duties in the EU.

During the second Euratex convention from 4th to 5th November in Berlin, the European textile- and garment industry had argued against Pakistan’s inclusion. Euratex placed emphasis on the implementatin of the 27 International Conventions (UN human rights conventions, ILO conventions, environmental conventions) and the fact that Pakistan as GSP Plus candidate does not fulfil all necessary requirements. The European textile and garment association also mentioned that “Pakistan already takes up a dominant position in the EU market for a considerable amount of textile products”.

Pakistan is one of the world’s biggest garment exporters. During the last fiscal year, which ended on 30th June 2013, the country was able to increase its export volume by 5.9 percent from 12.34 billion US dollars to 13.06 billion US dollars. The new GSP Plus status will be in effect from 1st January 2014 and is expected to boost Pakistan’s textile and garment industry further.