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EU finalising report on Pak progress on 27 conventions

Fate of incentivising duty-free exports to be decided on basis of report

By Mehtab Haider
November 06, 2015
ISLAMABAD: Expressing concern over human rights violations, abuse of labour laws and lifting ban on death penalty, the European Union is finalising its draft report on Islamabad’s progress on 27 conventions under the GSP plus on the basis of which the EU Parliament will decide the fate of incentivizing duty-free exports or going to suspend it in half way.
“We are finalizing the draft report to gauge the country’s progress on 27 conventions under Generalized System of Preference (GSP) plus and this report will be submitted to the EU headquarters on January 1, 2016 for deciding the future of incentivizing Pakistan’s exports,” Ambassador of European Union (EU) to Pakistan Jean Francois Cautain told reporters after attending national conference on “GSP plus: opportunities and challenges” organized by Democracy Reporting International here on Thursday.
The EU had granted GSP plus by allowing the country’s exports duty free access to all its member states two years and now the first review is due in January 2016 to gauge the country’s progress. On the basis of this review, the EU will decide to continue this incentive or they may suspend this favor to boost country’s exports.
Germany’s Ambassador to Pakistan Ms Ina Lepel also raised the issue of lifting ban on death penalty during her speech and said that research shows countries that are integrated and well-connected with the international systems like Germany perform better in trade.
The GSP, she said, would bring a change and help integrate Pakistan. During the first year of the GSP award Pakistan’s exports increased by 20 percent, she added.
However, when the EU ambassador was asked about the findings of Pakistan’s progress on 27 conventions under the GSP plus, he declined to share the findings and contended only as saying that the report on 27 conventions could not be termed in black and white and it would only indicate the country’s overall progress on all conventions

agreed by Islamabad under different international agreements to bring improvement in life of its citizen including labor, child and women.
When asked if lifting of moratorium on death penalty was part of 27 conventions, he said there was a “tiny” link where conventions talked about civil and political rights under which death penalty could not be executed.
Federal Minister for Commerce Khurram Dastagir Khan said on the directive of PM Nawaz Sharif, the government had established Treaty Implementation Cell to devise a mechanism for implementing and checking progress on all 27 conventions.
Pakistan, the minister said, was tackling three major challenges including fighting against extremism, stabilizing the economy and grappling the energy crisis and sustaining democratic progress and the country had achieved progress on all these three fronts.
There might be setbacks such as suicide attack on the Punjab Home Minister but the military offensive against militants had destroyed the infrastructure of terrorists, he added.
Pakistan’s exports to the EU have risen by more than 33% as compared to the pre-GSP Plus period, the minister said. There is a rise of 21.24% in Pakistan’s exports in the first year of GSP Plus and a further increase of 12.5% in exports in first seven months of 2015 as compared to the pre-GSP period. The Minister said that statistics of export s of first nineteen months under GSP Plus suggests that this export scheme is a resounding success for Pakistan.
The minister said Pakistan had made three significant achievements since the present government took oath in 2013.
He said 70 percent decline in acts of terrorism, financial stabilization and consolidation of democracy in the country were the three noteworthy accomplishments of the current government and the country which the world thoroughly acknowledges.
Chairman National Commission on Human Rights (NCHR) Justice Ali Nawaz Chowhan said corruption was beating our society like diabetes as the commission was going to take up delays caused by bureaucracy by suggesting penalty for those who would be found responsible.
Pakistan, he said, had ratified different conventions but their implementation remained not up to the desired mark.He said there was need to change the curriculum at all levels. He said that he would be visiting Lahore to ascertain facts about collapse of factory building in which precious lives of labourers were lost.
Farhatullah Babar, PPP senator, said human rights of all kinds should be implemented even if there is no GSP plus. He said 260 people had been hanged since moratorium on death penalty was lifted.
Hanging people and tweeting is lamentable and should be avoided, he added. The Senate, he said unanimously approved a law to prevent torture by law enforcement agencies but the law lies pending in the National Assembly, he added.
Senator Nasreen Jalil, President Senate Human Rights Committee, said the state needed to form committees to prevent torture and extrajudicial killings. “We have no laws to protect minorities. We need to ensure blasphemy laws are not abused”.
The Senate she said would firmly support implementations of human rights under the GSP+ scheme and ensure continuation of the incentive.