Brussels, 02/02/2012 (Agence Europe) - Several World Trade Organisation (WTO) members, including India and Bangladesh officially lifted their reservations on 1 February, paving the way for the multilateral organisation as a whole to formally approve, at its General Council on 14-15 February, the waiver requested by the EU to allow it to grant trade preferences to Pakistan over a period of two years. Pakistan's economy was devastated by floods in August 2010.
The lifting of the reservations by India, Bangladesh, Argentina, Brazil, Indonesia, Morocco and Peru meant that the WTO trade committee was able unanimously to agree to the EU's waiver request. The EU submitted a revised version in November 2011 which took cognisance of the systemic concerns expressed by several member countries.
The draft regulation brought forward by the Commission in October 2010 proposes unilateral suspension for two years of EU customs duties on key Pakistani exports. A list of 75 dutiable product lines of importance for Pakistan's exports has been established (65 for textiles, three for footwear, six for leather goods and one for ethanol, for which an annual tariff quota of 100,000 tonnes has been set), affecting products representing 27% of total exports from Pakistan to the EU. Through this measure it is hoped to increase Pakistani exports to the EU by €100 million per year, compared with 2009.
“This waiver is unprecedented. This shows the human face of the WTO. The Pakistani people have faith in the multilateral trade system”, said Pakistan's Ambassador to the WTO Shahid Bashir. His European counterpart, Angelos Pangratis, welcomed the go-ahead given by the WTO committee to the EU waiver request. He hopes the measures “will assist in the recovery of Pakistan's economy”. Once approval has been given by the WTO General Council, the package will have to be passed by the European Parliament before being implemented retrospectively, from 1 January 2012 to 31 December 2013.
In the European Parliament, Sajjad Karim (ECR, UK) welcomed this “good news in terms of the development of the relationship between the European Union and Pakistan and, indeed, South Asia”. His fellow countryman Robert Sturdy (ECR) promised “efforts to ensure that the EU can adopt (the package) swiftly” and expressed the hope that “the Socialists do not attempt to block it again”. (EH/transl.rt)