GSP Plus

Image: Fishing boats docked at Negambo habour: Fisheries exports was  doubled in the first year since the removal of the fish ban and granting of GSP+  © Sunanda Deshapriya. Following the granting of GSP+, Sri Lanka’s exports to the EU have increased more than 20%, according to the EU. Notable growth sectors of this economic development […]

Image: EU MEPs holding a press conference in Colombo. Issuing a statement on behalf of the visiting European Parliamentary Delegation for Relations with the Countries of South Asia, EU- Sri Lanka has expressed concern that the progress achieved has been slower than originally hoped. At the same time the statement says that  t the foundations for […]

IPS/ Sri Lankan exports, which have been flagging in recent times, gained some much needed relief with the European Union’s (EU) Foreign Affairs Council deciding to grant additional trade preferences to Sri Lanka under its GSP-Plus initiative. By granting this concession, Sri Lanka will now benefit from the full removal of tariffs on Sri Lankan imports […]

Image: Free Trade Zone workers in Sri Lanka: Will GSP plus benefits reach them? Issuing a press release on providing GSP plus trade concessions to Sri Lanka the European Union says that ” it is also a vote of confidence from the European Union that the Sri Lankan Government will maintain the progress it has […]

Image: Resistance to repression in Venezuela. Only the naïve would believe the rosily repeated plea by the European Union (EU) that ‘the implementation of twenty seven international conventions is the only criterion for regaining’ the GSP Plus trade facility for Sri Lanka. Posing infinitely greater harm Repetition does not make what is false, true though this […]

Image: Ambassador Tung-Lai Margue. European Union Ambassador to Sri Lanka  Tung-Lai Margue’s  has reaffirmed the reinstatement of GSP Plus to Sri Lanka in his message for Europe Day. The excerpt of his message says that ” two years ago, after the election of a government with a commitment and vision to make fundamental reforms, Sri Lanka and the European Union […]

In the chaotic merry-go-round characterizing the drafting of Sri Lanka’s proposed Counter-Terror Act (CTA), the periodic surfacing of one version followed by another has given rise to unexpected horrors. Each time that a new draft emerges or should I rather say, is ‘extracted’ with great pain out of a process gripped by skullduggery and secrecy, […]

Image: Right to Information includes covering conflict situations. By Namini Wijedasa. The word ‘Espionage’ dropped, but originally listed offences reintroduced. The Counter Terrorism Act policy framework approved by the Cabinet this week has reintroduced  offences originally listed under “espionage”– whilst merely removing the word “espionage” from the document. As such, the draft makes it an […]

DRI. The Generalised Scheme of Preferences (GSP) of the European Union (EU) is a trade arrangement that allows developing countries to pay less or no duties on their exports to the EU. The EU offers GSP programmes to help vulnerable countries to reduce poverty, improve governance and foster a process of sustainable development. The Generalised […]

The resolution submitted by a group of Members of the European United Left/Nordic Green Left saying that the GSP+ should not be granted to Sri Lanka, was defeated  in the European Parliament in Brussels on 27th April . The Government  has partially fulfilled the two conditions put forward by the European Union to grant GSP […]

European United Left and Nordic Green Left (GUE/NGL ) consisting 52 members (MEPs) have submitted a resolution to the European Parliament rquesting not to grant GSP+ trade consessions to Sri Lanka. Next  plenary session of the Parliament is scheduled for 26-27th April. if 376 out of 751 MEPs vote for the resolution at the upcoming  session […]

Image: Anne-Marie Mineur and Lola Sánchez Caldentey meeting with local TU leaders; Credit www.guengl.eu. Issuing a statement the Fact Finding Mission including Members of the European Parliament Anne-Marie Mineur and Lola Sánchez Caldentey that visited Sri Lanka has emphasised that GSP plus concessions will be granted to Sri Lanka only  that the benefit goes also […]

Image: European parliament in session. In a letter addressed to PM Wickremasinghe European Parliament has put forward two specific conditions if Sri Lanka wants to regain the EU’s GSP Plus concessions. The letter had been sent to Wickremasinghe on 7th April 2017. The letter says that “we expect the Government to table legislation to replace […]

Image: From left: European Delegation in Sri Lanka and Maldives Political, Trade and Communications Counsellor Paul Godfrey, EU Ambassador to Sri Lanka and Maldives Tung-Lai Margue, European Parliament Member Jean Lambert and European Delegation Administrator Kristin Arp Pic by Pradeep Pathirana By Chandeepa Wettasinghe. The leader of a delegation from the European Parliament urged Sri […]

(European Union Charge d’Affaires and Head, Political, Trade and Communications, Paul Godfrey) The European Union (EU) will to call for a foreign judicial role, only if the Sri Lankan Government fails to appoint a credible truth seeking and accountability mechanism to probe allegations of war crimes and human rights abuses. In an interview with the […]

The GSP Plus facility granted by the European Union is — by its very nature — a highly conditional duty free concession. To argue otherwise would be disingenuous. One need not look far. The concession’s unabbreviated name is the ‘EU Special Incentive Arrangement for Sustainable Development and Good Governance’. It is awarded to selected countries […]

Human Rights Action Plan etc. called for; talks in Brussels next week. In its haste to regain the GSP Plus facility, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has agreed with the European Union (EU) to implement a sprawling list of 58 conditions linking human rights, national security and other domestic concerns with trade, a document obtained […]

By David Daly. The EU is based on the principles of democracy, the rule of law and human rights and it strives to respect the highest standards. The EU not only has a principled incentive to uphold human rights through its policies, but it also has a legal obligation to do so. Therefore, as we […]

*Responds positively to Sri Lanka’s re-application; *Removal of ban on fish exports also expected. The government expects the European Union to restore the GSP Plus facility which was withdrawn in 2010 over the previous regimes failure to comply with international labour regulations and its poor human rights record before the end of this year. Deputy Foreign Minister Ajith […]

[Apparel workers in Sri Lanka] The EU and Sri Lanka have begun the formal process that may lead to the re-admission of Sri Lanka to the status of GSP+ under the European Union’s new GSP regulation. A joint statement by Sri Lanka and the EU said that the EU-Sri Lanka Working Group on Trade and […]

Focus-Logo This week, the Government of Sri Lanka admitted for the first time, the financial losses that the country has been subjected to as a result of losing the European Union (EU) GSP Plus facility in 2010. At the time that we bartered away this facility, what was told to us was quite a different […]

Sri Lanka’s apparel industry, struggling against an economic crisis that has hit its main buyer – Europe -, is urging the government to implement recommendations of Sri Lanka’s post-war reconciliation commission in a bid to regain GSP concessions from the European Union (EU).This comes in the wake of a leadership change within the apparel exporters’ […]

 Dilshani Samaraweera Sri Lankas apparel exports are suffering from the loss of the EUs GSP+ scheme Sri Lanka’s apparel exports are suffering from the loss of the EU’s GSP+ scheme Two years after it was formally removed from the GSP+ scheme that allowed duty-free exports to the EU, Sri Lanka’s apparel industry says it is […]