Sri Lanka should keep its GSP Plus concessions - Financial Times, UK
Walter JAYAWARDHANA
United Kingdom's influential Financial Times in an editorial in no
uncertain terms advocated Sri Lanka should continue to enjoy the GSP
Plus trade concessions without any break.
In an editorial published in its October 21 issue the Financial Times
said, "Trade deals should be a means for poor countries to haul
themselves out of poverty, not a tool of foreign policy manipulation by
their richer counterparts. Sri Lanka's exporters have used their access
to the European market well. They should keep it."
The European Commission threatened to suspend GSP Plus. File
photo |
In no uncertain terms the newspaper reminded the European Union,
trade restrictions are a legitimate means to isolate the most vile
abusers of human rights, particularly when an authoritarian government
controls the entire country and its economy. That is not the case here.
Sri Lanka is not Burma.
The newspaper said further, "Using trade as a strategic tool makes
the global trading system hostage to endless political posturing and
negotiating games. Governments should grant trade preferences on simple,
fair criteria, largely based on the poverty and vulnerability of trading
partners."
Written under the topic, Tigers and Trade; Sri Lanka should keep its
special access to EU markets, the following is the full text of the
editorial: Given the country's wealth and status, standards in the
clothing industry of Sri Lanka are pretty high. It is widely recognized,
not least by Victoria's Secret and other Western brands who source
there, that its factories are environmentally sensitive and relatively
respectful of labour rights. Those standards helped Sri Lanka qualify
for special trade access to the European Union four years ago, and have
continued to improve.
Yet this week the European Commission threatened to suspend those
trade privileges, a decision likely to throw thousands of Sri Lankan
garment employees out of work. Confused? The episode risks becoming
another triumph for the illogicality of using trade deals to achieve
non-trade ends.
The trade deal from which Sri Lanka benefits charges specially low
tariffs on imports from developing countries that ratify a grand total
of 27 standards and treaties.
Some, such as the labour and environmental standards, are at least
somewhat connected to trade - though even here there is a risk that such
measures are used as protectionism.
Others, such as the Kyoto protocol (in effect meaningless to any
developing country, as they have no obligations under it) and the
Cartagena protocol on biosafety, which enshrines the precautionary
principle for assessing biotechnology, are aimed more at annoying the
US, which does not subscribe to the principles therein.
Sri Lanka is threatened with losing its trade rights because of human
rights abuses committed by its government in the course of the conflict
with the Tiger rebels. Such violations are well documented and
abhorrent. But it is perverse to punish the clothing industry and other
exporters for the actions of Security Forces they cannot control. In
extremis, trade restrictions are a legitimate means to isolate the most
vile abusers of human rights, particularly when an authoritarian
government controls the entire country and its economy. That is not the
case here. Sri Lanka is not Burma.
Using trade as a strategic tool makes the global trading system
hostage to endless political posturing and negotiating games.
Governments should grant trade preferences on simple, fair criteria,
largely based on the poverty and vulnerability of trading partners.
Trade deals should be a means for poor countries to haul themselves out
of poverty, not a tool of foreign policy manipulation by their richer
counterparts. Sri Lanka's exporters have used their access to the
European market well. They should keep it. |