ANI
02 Jul 2022, 00:18 GMT+10
Islamabad [Pakistan], July 1 (ANI): Pakistan has refused to ratify the European Union (EU) conditions including the abolition of the death penalty for the extension of a new Generalised Scheme of Preferences Plus (GSP) status for 2024, according to local media.
The GSP is a trade and development policy instrument in place since 1971 which is set to expire on December 31, 2023. Pakistan, a major recipient of the GSP scheme, benefitted from zero duty on several products.
The 27-member-bloc sees the coming months as crucial for extending the GSP status for 2024.
The Express Tribune citing sources reported that the EU Parliament had proposed additional conventions for the new GSP scheme (2024-34). These conventions include the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC) - Individual complaints against State party in ICC - and First Optional Protocol to the International Convention Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) - Individual complaints against State party in ICCPR-UNHRC.
There is also a second optional protocol to the ICCPR which bounds a country to abolish the death penalty. The Pakistani publication further reported citing sources said that Pakistan had not ratified any of the conditions.
Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif will engage with the presidents of the council and the commission to seek a waiver to the conventions. The Pakistani side will take up the matter with an EU delegation that is visiting the country and with the EU Parliament.
Meanwhile, taking stock of the progress made on the nine priority areas for the fourth biennial review of GSP Plus, PM Shehbaz asked the chief secretaries of the four provinces to brief the cabinet via video link, The Express Tribune reported.
On June 22, a mission of the EU's Generalised Scheme of Preferences Plus (GSP) arrived in Islamabad on Wednesday to assess the effective implementation of 27 international conventions.
"The GSP (Generalised Scheme of Preferences Plus) provides wide-ranging tariff preferences for imports to the EU from vulnerable developing countries to support poverty eradication, sustainable development and their participation in the global economy as well as reinforce good governance," the EU mission said in a statement.
Eligible countries like Pakistan can export goods to the EU market at zero duties for 66 per cent of tariff lines. This preferential status is conditional on GSP countries demonstrating tangible progress on the implementation of 27 international conventions on human and labour rights, environmental protection, climate change and good governance. (ANI)
Get a daily dose of Cardiff Star news through our daily email, its complimentary and keeps you fully up to date with world and business news as well.
Publish news of your business, community or sports group, personnel appointments, major event and more by submitting a news release to Cardiff Star.
More InformationLONDON, England: Following a request by Nigeria's National Commission for Museums and Monuments, the Horniman Museum in London has agreed ...
SUSSEX, UK - After a Premier League game, a fight broke out, leading to the murder of an Irish drug ...
OTTAWA, Ontario: Military trainers from Canada will head to the United Kingdom to teach Ukrainians new techniques for fighting the ...
LONDON, England: British Airways has halted ticket sales for short-haul flights that depart before the middle of August from London's ...
LONDON, England: In 2023, America's Major League Baseball is set to return to London for the first time since 2019, ...
As Russian forces advanced in Ukraine's eastern Donbas region, volunteers raced against time under deadly fire to convince the last ...
ZAGREB, Croatia: Authorities have said that a weekend bus crash near Varazdin in Croatia killed 12 passengers and injured 32.The ...
WASHINGTON D.C.: The U.S. will participate in a joint military exercise in mid-October with India, less than 62 miles from ...
SEOUL, South Korea: South Korea has launched a domestically manufactured lunar orbiter that took off from Florida's Cape Canaveral Space ...
MOSCOW, Russia: A leading Russian scientist in the field of hypersonic flight, Dr. Alexander Shiplyuk, has been arrested on suspicion ...
LOS ANGELES, California: During a meeting that was disrupted by protesters this week, the Los Angeles City Council voted to ...
WASHINGTON D.C.: The U.S. Justice Department announced this week that former Puerto Rico governor Wanda Vazquez has been arrested in ...