The fourth biennial review (2020 – 2021) of the European Union’s Special Incentive Arrangement for Good Governance and Sustainable Development (GSP- Plus) has commenced and Pakistan has submitted its responses to the EU on the list of issues and follow up questions on September 15, 2020, and September 15, 2021. According to a statement issued Wednesday, the EU monitoring mission is expected to visit Pakistan in November 2021.
The GSP-Plus is a pivotal mechanism for improving economic relations between Pakistan and the EU, whereby Pakistan is given zero-rated tariff preferences on almost 91% of tariff lines to the EU market.
The GSP-Plus incentive provides many Pakistani export-oriented products, including garments, bed linen, terry towels, hosiery, leather, sports and surgical goods, among other, duty-free access in the EU market. The EU GSP-Plus is linked with the implementation of 27 UN conventions on human rights, labour rights, climate change, governance, and narcotics control. After every two years, a review is carried out by the bloc to ensure the commitment of the beneficiary countries to effectively implement these 27 UN conventions. So far, three successful biennial reviews have been concluded in 2016, 2018, and 2020, respectively.
