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EU Reporter (13 April 2021)

After 2 year-long process of negotiations and regular checks by the European Commission, which dragged out due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the EU has finally accepted the Republic of Uzbekistan as the 9th beneficiary country of the special incentive arrangement for sustainable development and good governance, more known as GSP+. Under this new arrangement, the EU will start applying preferential treatment for products imported from Uzbekistan, granting full removal of tariffs on over 66% of tariff lines covering a very wide array of products including, for example, textiles and fisheries - writes Vita Kobiela.

There are strict criteria to fulfil to be granted a GSP+ scheme. Uzbekistan firstly had to meet economic criteria followed by political ones (the most difficult), which means, to ratify the 27 international conventions on human rights, climate, labour rights, etc. However, it is not enough to simply ratify them: all of them should be implemented and exercised, under the scrutiny of the European Commission and the EEAS.

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