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A national seminar on the European Union's GSP Scheme and Regional Cumulation was organised by the Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry of Sri Lanka (FCCISL) in association with SAARC Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCI) recently at Jaic Hilton Tower. M. G. Hewage - Director General of Commerce, Department of Commerce representing the Ministry of Commerce and Consumer Affairs inaugurated the seminar.

In 1964, the UNCTAD (United Nations Committee for Trade and Development) discussed ways and means of granting special trade preferences to developing countries. As a result of these discussions, it was recommended to create a "Generalised System of Preferences (GSP)" under which industrialised countries would grant autonomous and non-reciprocal trade preferences to all developing countries.

The European Community was the first to implement its own GSP in 1971. From the beginning, the GSP was conceived as an autonomous trade policy instrument providing development oriented preferences. This concept was reinforced in the most recent years. Over the time, the EU scheme underwent a number of considerable changes. Since 1995, it has done away with any quantitative limitations, taking on board one of the most prominent requests of the beneficiary countries.

The SAARC region has been given the facility of cumulative rules of origin under the EU GSP scheme. In terms of this, inputs originating in any of the SAARC Member States that are further worked or processed will also count as originating in that particular beneficiary country claiming the GSP benefit is greater than the highest customs value of the inputs originating in any one of the SAARC countries.

Ever since the facility was granted to the SAARC region, SAARC Secretariat have been receiving a large number of queries from representatives of Business and Industry seeking clarifications on technical and operational details of the scheme. With a view to creating awareness of this facility and also providing a good understanding of the scheme and the facilities that it offers, SCCI Secretariat have been in consultation with the European Commission to organise a series of seminars under the EC - SAARC MoU.

The EC nominated two experts, Mike Humphrey and Ms Fiona Carmichael who travelled around the region, holding consultations and seminars with the member governments and in particular with the member Federations of SCCI.

Ms. Fiona Carmichael and Mike Humphrey made presentations of the GSP regulations and GSP Rules of Origin and Regional Cumulation.

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