Brussels: EU nations have decided to suspend
Sri Lanka's preferential trade status because of the island's
human rights record and will make the formal move later this
month, officials said on Friday.
"European ambassadors have taken the decision. The EU
Commission's investigation showed Sri Lanka has not
demonstrated that it has taken the steps that would allow it
to retain or regain the GSP+ status," a European diplomat
said.
However the suspension would not come into effect until
six months later.
The European Union's Generalised System of Preferences
Plus (GPS+) scheme gives 16 poor nations preferential access
to the trading bloc in return for following strict commitments
on a wide variety of social and rights issues.
The decision to suspend the trade privileges was taken
last week and is set to be endorsed by European finance
ministers when they meet in Brussels on February 16, the
diplomat said.
This is in part to allow manufacturers and traders to
adjust to the new rules, but it also gives Colombo a fair
opportunity to get the decision reversed.
"We will look to work with Sri Lanka to identify
concerted steps and actions which could help us to plot the
course together that would enable Sri Lanka to regain GS+" the
diplomat said.
Sri Lanka's hawkish government has faced almost constant
criticism over the the past several years because of the way
it has conducted a war against Tamil Tiger rebels.
PTI
First Published: Friday, February 05, 2010, 21:48