The WTO Council for Trade in Goods has approved a request by the European Union to temporarily lift EU duties on certain products from Pakistan to help the country recover from massive floods in 2010. This request for a waiver from its WTO obligations was initially made by the EU on 30 November 2010 and is independent from the current discussions on the EU's Generalised System of Preferences (GSP).
The EU request concerns a waiver on trade preferences for 75 products from Pakistan, which now include 20 on which tariff rate quotas would be applied instead of full liberalisation. According to the EU, this new version revision reflects consultations with WTO members that have expressed concerns about the EU request. The EU reiterated that it was asking for a waiver for an exceptional measure being taken in the light of exceptional circumstances, and would not be a precedent in the WTO. It added that the measures would be in effect from 1 January 2012 to 31 December 2013.
The approved waiver request has now been forwarded to the WTO General Council for adoption.
Text of the EU request:
http://docsonline.wto.org/DDFDocuments/t/G/C/W640R2.doc
More info on the WTO website:
http://www.wto.org/english/news_e/news12_e/good_02feb12_e.htm
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