13/05/2011 (Agence Europe) - Brazil concerned at GSP reform. Brazil, the world's eighth largest economy, said this week that it is “concerned” that the EU might remove it from its list of countries benefiting from trade preferences on the Community market under the Generalised System of Preferences (GSP), and warned of possible repercussions for European investors in Brazil and for European consumers. Removing Brazil from the list could lead to an even greater concentration of raw materials in Brazilian exports to the EU, as most of the goods which benefit from this system are those with a high added value, warned the Brazilian foreign office, in a press release published in response to a Commission plan, presented on 10 May, to halve the number of GSP beneficiary countries. Brazil warns, too, that such a measure could also affect major European firms which have invested in Brazil, in the automotive sector, for example, and result in a rise in prices paid by European consumers. (E.H./transl.rt)