By EuAsiaNews,
Brussels : The European Union extended Wednesday its Generalised System of Preferences (GSP) for the period from 1 January 2009 until the end of 2011
This decision will allow the EU to maintain preferential access to its market for 176 developing countries, including India, said the European Commission in a statemenmt.
The GSP is a trade arrangement through which the EU provides non-reciprocal preferential access to the EU market to 176 developing countries and territories, in the form of reduced tariffs for their goods when entering the EU market.
As a result of re-calculations to reflect the evolution of trade, preferences for specific product groups will be re-established for six beneficiary countries of GSP Algeria, India (jewellery, pearls, precious metals and stones) , Indonesia, Russia, South Africa and Thailand.
Whenever an individual country’s performance on the EU market over a three-year period exceeds or falls below a set threshold, preferential tariffs are either suspended or re-established.
GSP provides real economic value to developing countries, with 57 billion euro worth of trade under the scheme in 2007.
“The continuation of GSP will ensure stability and predictability for beneficiaries and traders in the EU and developing countries. GSP is a vital tool of our pro-development EU trade policy,” said EU trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson.
Preferences will be suspended for one country, Vietnam, for footwear and some other products. Two countries , Myanmar and Belarus, remain temporarily withdrawn from GSP preferences.