BRUSSELS, 26 September 2021, (TON): The European Commission has adopted a legislative proposal for 10 years (2024-34) to offer new European Union Generalised Scheme of Preferences (GSP) to remove or reduce duties on import of products to promote sustainable development in low-income countries.

Pakistan is the largest beneficiary of the current GSP plus scheme since 2014, zero per cent duty on several hundred products under the current regulation, which will expire on Dec 31, 2023 and to which the new proposal will become the successor.

The European Parliament and the Council will now discuss the new proposal. Once adopted by them, the new GSP regulation will apply from Jan 1, 2024.

The EU’s GSP is a well-established trade and development policy instrument, which has been in place since 1971. The European Commission in Islamabad released on Friday details of the new legislation on GSP.

Under the current GSP+ system, which will end in 2023, the European Commission is continuously monitoring the progress made by beneficiary countries like Pakistan towards the implementation of 27 international conventions.

In the last monitoring reports, some progress had been positively highlighted, while concerns had been raised regarding child labour, torture, media freedom and access to justice, amongst others.