On November 30, the European Commission approved the Uzbekistan's application for obtaining the status of a beneficiary of the Generalized System of Preferences plus "GSP +", the Uzbek Ministry of Investment and Foreign Trade said in a statement.
The approval document was signed by the Chairperson of the EU Commission Ursula von der Leyen.
“The decision was based on the reports of the monitoring groups of the European Commission on the implementation by Uzbekistan of the provisions of 27 international conventions in the field of human rights protection, observance of labor standards, environmental protection and good governance,” the statement said.
Based on the findings of the analysis, the European Commission reportedly came to the conclusion that the country has met the criteria for participation in the "GSP +" and proposed to add the country to the list of beneficiaries.
Now the matter will be handed over to the European Council and the European Parliament for review and approval. Subject to approval, Uzbek producers and exporters will be able to start using unilateral tariff preferences when exporting their goods to the European market.
Then the number of goods that Uzbek producers will be able to export duty-free to the EU countries will be brought to 6,200, the statement says. This is twice as much as it is now.
Currently, Uzbekistan uses the basic GSP system, according to which it can export 3000 goods to the EU without customs duties and 3200 goods at reduced rates.
