If Pakistan wants the Generalised System of Preferences Plus (GSP Plus) scheme status given to it by the European Union to go beyond 2023, up to 2034, it will not only have to submit a fresh application, but also show progress on a number of areas where it has signed conventions. There are 32 conventions on which it will have to present an action plan which the European Union will consider, with the European Parliament, the European Council and the European Commission all having to sign off on the granting of the application. Far from being a formality, Pakistan should expect India to lobby as fiercely against the extension as it did against the original grant. Even apart from the fact that the EU itself has enhanced its own monitoring, India will be on the prowl, ready to pounce on any Pakistani shortcoming it can point a finger at.
The GSP Plus status is not to be sneered at, or lightly dismissed. The EU received €3 billion of exports from Pakistan in the first half of the year, up 11 percent. While there were exports before GSP Plus, and if the status is revoked, their volume would go down considerably.
However, rather than seeking to address EU concerns, the government has been pussyfooting around the case of Tehrik Labbaik Pakistan chief Saad Rizvi, who was arrested for demanding the expulsion of the French Ambassador, the arrest leading to widespread protests and police-mob clashes. Mr Rizvi was detained under MPO, but the failure of the government to prepare a case against him led to his release. The TLP is preparing to renew its demand, even though the French ambassador is a sensitive point for the EU, France being one of its leading members. The whole GSP Plus enterprise depends both on Pakistan exhibiting correct behaviour as well as beginning preparations right now, not in 2024, when the preferences actually expire. The government should bring the exporters, who are major stakeholders, on board, and take them into confidence on what it is doing, as well as seeking necessary input.
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