BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

22/12/2006

EU Takes Trade Measures Against Belarus

The European Commission on December 21 announced that it will withdraw tariff preferences granted to Belarus under the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) if the country fails to improve its poor labor standards within the next six months, RFE/RL's Belarus Service and dpa reported. The EU move comes after a commission inquiry established systematic violations of core labor rights in Belarus, including the freedom of association and the right to collective bargaining. "Where countries systematically flout core labor standards, we need to be prepared to act. This decision is a test case of our collective commitment to the promotion of workers rights as an integral part of our trade policy," EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson told journalists. Currently some 12 percent of Belarus's exports to the EU are shipped under reduced GSP tariffs. According to estimates, the withdrawal of GSP benefits for Belarusian exports of wood, chemicals, and textiles could result in annual losses to Minsk of some $300 million euros ($400 million) in trade with the EU. JM

Source:

http://www.rferl.org/newsline/2006/12/3-cee/cee-221206.asp