BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

21/12/2006

EU to pull Belarus trade preferences unless it reforms labor rights

The Associated Press

BRUSSELS, Belgium: The EU voted Thursday to withdraw trade preferences from Belarus unless it tackled what it called serious violations of basic labor rights.

Scrapping the EU trade breaks would have the effect of increasing tariffs for the 12 percent of Belarus exports to the EU that currently have preferential rates.

"Where countries systematically flout core labor standards, we need to be prepared to act," said EU trade commissioner Peter Mandelson, after EU nations voted in favor of sanctions he had proposed.

The EU executive said it found in 2003 that Belarus was violating the rights of workers to join unions and make collective deals with employers.

In 2004, an investigation by the International Labor Organization found that Belarus was not obeying ILO agreements it had signed.

"At the current time, Belarus has not made the requisite commitments to remedying this problem," the European Commission said.

"The regulation withdrawing trade preferences will come into force six months after its adoption, unless the situation in Belarus changes significantly before then."

Source:

http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2006/12/21/business/EU_FIN_EU_Belarus_Trade.php

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