Brussels, 15/02/2010 (Agence Europe) - EU member states decided on Monday 15 February to suspend the country's preferential access to the Community market for six months. This came in the wake of an investigation carried out between October 2008 and 2009 by the European Commission, which concluded that Sri Lanka had violated its commitments with regard to sustainable development and good governance and in particular with regard to human rights, in the context of the EU's generalised system of preferences, GSP+.
The Commission's in-depth investigation concluded at the end of October 2009 that there were serious failings in compliance with three UN conventions, on human rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), the Convention against Torture (CAT) and the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), implementation of which by the Sri Lankan authorities was deemed by the Commission to be lacking. In December, the Commission put a proposal on the table seeking to suspend Sri Lanka temporarily from the GSP+. “I hope Sri Lanka will sit with us over the next six months in order to agree upon a set of measures that will result in rapid, demonstrable and sustained progress in relation to the human rights shortcomings we have identified,” commented new European Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht in a press release. The Commission has promised to keep a close eye on the situation and to re-assess developments regularly, and will propose to the Council that the preferences granted Sri Lanka under the terms of the GSP+ are restored once sufficient progress has been made by the authorities of that country. The temporary suspension will take effect for six months from 15 February. During this period, Sri Lankan exports will be subject to standard GSP preferential treatment, under the terms of regulation 732/08/EC. Standard GSP grants preferential access to the Community market for developing countries. GSP+ offers additional reductions of customs duties to 15 developing countries, including Sri Lanka, which have committed themselves to sustainable development and good governance, including human rights and labour standards, and which have ratified and implement 27 international conventions in these areas. (E.H./tranls.jl/rt)