Brussels, 21/06/2007 (Agence Europe) - Further to Council Regulation 1933/2006 suspending Belarus from the Union's Generalised System of Preferences (GSP) and which took effect on Thursday (see EUROPE 9447), Minsk immediately dismissed the punitive measures imposed upon it for failure to comply with international standards with regard to labour rights. “Belarus fails to understand the European Union's suspension from June 21 of trade privileges”, a Belarusian Foreign Ministry statement reads. “It sees the decision as temporary and assumes that objective reality will promote the EU to re-examine and rescind it soon. This short-sighted step by the EU will, in the first instance, hurt ordinary Belarusian citizens”, the statement adds. Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson had last week confirmed implementation, on 21 June, of the Council's decision accusing Belarusian authorities of “clearly flouting” the standards of the International Labour Organisation. Belarusian exports will now be subject to the EU's standard import tariffs, which are three percentage points higher than preferential rates. (eh)