5 July 2021 12:00 am Views - 109
By Kelum Bandara
The government has invited a delegation from the European Commission to see the progress made by Sri Lanka in the improvement of areas concerned to qualify for retaining the GSP + trade facility, an official said.
The GSP (Generalised Scheme of Preferences) +, is a tariff concession offered to low and lower-middle-income countries that implement 27 international conventions related to human rights, labour rights, protection of the environment and good governance.
Sri Lanka is enjoying this facility for its exports to the markets in the region of European Union. Recently, European Union passed a resolution underlining that the GSP+ scheme offered to Sri Lanka made a significant contribution to the country’s economy, from which exports to the EU have increased to EUR 2.3 billion, making the EU Sri Lanka’s second-largest export market. It stresses that the continuance of GSP+ trade preferences is not automatic and called on the European Commission to use the GSP+ as leverage to push for advancement on Sri Lanka’s Regulation (EU) No 978/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council of October 25, 2012.