Brussels, 04/02/2011 (Agence Europe) - The EU is continuing consultations at the WTO on its request for a derogation for the trade preferences it is planning to grant Pakistan, which has seen its economy devastated by the unprecedented flooding it suffered in August of last year.
At a meeting of the WTO Council for the Trade in Goods (often referred to as the Goods Council) on 31 January, the European delegation said it was continuing its consultations with the member countries - Bangladesh, India, Peru and Vietnam - which had, when the request was made on 30 November, expressed systemic and economic concerns over the impact the EU preferences to Pakistan would have multilaterally. The EU will report back on the outcome of the consultations at the next meeting of the Goods Council on 21 March. This Council oversees the work of the 10 WTO committees, each dealing with a specific issue (agriculture, market access, subsidies anti-dumping measures, etc).
The draft regulation tabled by the European Commission at the start of October proposes the unilateral suspension of EU customs duties on key Pakistani exports for the next three years. Seventy-five tariff lines would be affected: 65 concern textiles, three footwear, six leather and one ethanol, for which it is proposed to open an annual tariff quota of 100,000 tonnes. The move would increase Pakistani exports to the EU by around €100 million per year, compared with 2009. (E.H./transl.rt)