Brussels, 04/01/2002 (Agence Europe) - The new Generalised System of Preferences (GSP) entered into force on 1 January 2002. The system seeks to help developing countries and, according to the European Commission, marks a turning point by taking on board the commercial concerns of the world's poorest countries and helping them to integrate into the global economy by increasing the level of their products into the European Union.
Commenting on the entry into force of the new simplified GSP, with its broader scope of preferential tariff arrangements for the 2002-2004 period (see EUROPE 10 and 11 December, page 9), the European Commissioner for Trade, Pascal Lamy, declared in a press release that the package in favour of developing countries is the most generous ever agreed to by the European Union. He also stated that the EU hoped that developing countries would make greater use of the Union's unilateral system of preferences, including the strong incentives provided to help conform to the most important standards in the social arena. (The Regulation on the new Generalised System of Preferences has been published in Official Journal L346, 31 December).