Conference on US GSP export duty concessions

A video conference, organised by the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce, jointly with the Department of Commerce, Ministry of International Trade and Export Development and the Office of the United States Trade Representative, will provide an ideal opportunity for the Sri Lankan exporters to learn about the duty concessions available to them under the US GSP Scheme.

The video conference will be held on November 19, from 5.00 p.m. to 7.00 p.m. at the Distance Learning Centre. The U.S. Generalised System of Preferences (GSP) provides preferential duty-free treatment for 3,400 products from 134 designated beneficiary countries and territories.

Sri Lankan exporters face increasing competition in the international market from other low cost suppliers such as China and India. Given the high cost of production incurred by Sri Lankan manufacturers, the GSP concessions assist in improving the price competitiveness of Sri Lankan products in the U.S. market, and thus must be made use of to its full potential.

The presentation will be made by the person who is heading the GSP division Executive Director/US GSP Programme, Office of the United States Trade Representative in Washington Marideth Sandler.

Her presentation specially designed for Sri Lanka will cover the current status of the US GSP Program with special emphasis on Sri Lankan exports, product coverage, rules of origin, documentation procedure and any future developments in US Trade Preference Programs.

The presentation will be followed by a panel discussion with experts on the US GSP Scheme, from both the public and private sector, and an open forum.