Time to work for GSP Plus: EU envoy

The European Union yesterday suggested Bangladesh should start working now to get generous benefits under GSP Plus, a preferential trade scheme, by complying with stringent conditions.

Bangladesh will lose generalised system of preferences (GSP) and may qualify for GSP Plus in the EU market as soon as it becomes a middle-income country.

GSP Plus means full removal of tariffs on goods, but that depends on higher labour standards. It is granted to the nations that graduate from the status of least developed countries. The benefits under GSP Plus hinge on the ratification and implementation of 27 international core conventions on human rights, labour rights, environment and governance.

“Bangladesh is enjoying a robust and steady economic growth that could make it a middle-income country by 2021. This would be a fantastic success story, just 50 years after the liberation,” said Pierre Mayaudon, the new EU ambassador to Bangladesh, at his maiden press conference at Hotel Amari in Gulshan.

“Let me be clear. Bangladesh will not be eligible for consideration by the EU to get GSP Plus until and unless it complies with a combination of stringent conditions,” he said.

As an LDC, Bangladesh now enjoys full duty- and quota-free access under 'everything but arms' category in the EU market.

Mayaudon, who served as deputy head of EU delegation to Pakistan before taking up the new assignment, stressed implementation of the sustainability compact in the apparel sector that brings together the Bangladesh government, the EU, ILO and the USA.

Terming the EU's relations with the government excellent, he said a joint commission will meet early next year and address a range of issues of common interests.

He said the EU intends to increase the budget support component of EU-Bangladesh cooperation, which will mean more interaction with the government to achieve quality education and better performing and transparent public financial management.

Among the thousands of Bangladeshi NGOs, Brac and Grameen Bank made a name beyond borders, the envoy said.

Apart from the apparel sector, he said, the EU will be working with SMEs and in emerging sectors of shipbuilding, IT and pharmaceuticals.