SRI LANKA: EU Moots End of Country’s Preferential Export Tariffs

The European Parliament (EP) has called for Sri Lanka’s access to the EU’s Generalised Scheme of Preferences Plus (GSP+) concessions scheme to be suspended. The move follows growing concern over Sri Lanka’s use of its Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) to arbitrarily arrest and detain Muslims and other minority groups in the country.

Should the suspension go ahead, it will see Sri Lanka lose preferential access to the EU markets, an entitlement that covers tariff reductions of up to 66% on many of its exports, including clothing, rubber, fish and ceramics. As the EU is the Sri Lanka’s largest export market, the move will inevitably have a major negative impact on the South Asian country’s economy.