Pakistan says EU report on GSP+ compliance does not fully reflect reforms

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Thursday said it was dissatisfied with the European Union’s latest assessment of its compliance under the Generalised Scheme of Preferences Plus, with the Foreign Office arguing that the report did not fairly capture the scope of reforms undertaken by the country.

The European Commission issued the report last week as part of its global review of the GSP framework for the 2023-2025 period. According to the assessment, Pakistan had regressed in several areas and had seen only limited positive change.

Responding to a question during the weekly media briefing, Foreign Office spokesperson Tahir Andrabi said Pakistan appreciated the report’s acknowledgement of legislative progress and its continued compliance with 27 international conventions linked to the GSP+ arrangement. He added, however, that Islamabad took issue with the broader framing of the document.

Andrabi said:

Nevertheless, I would be remiss if I do not express disappointment with the assessment, with the report’s overall narrative which does not present sufficiently balanced pictures of Pakistan’s performance,

He further said the EU review understated the extent of reforms carried out by Pakistan. The GSP+ mechanism is tied to compliance with a set of international conventions, and the EU report formed part of the bloc’s latest monitoring of beneficiary countries.