As bilateral trade with EU crossed the $5Bn mark for the first time and after months of speculation and vibes on the coveted GSP Plus, EU announced on 18 March the actual start of the recovery process will commence right here in Colombo as early as next week-and setting the record straight on the GSP+, EU also revealed that the process is not simple and much more ‘complicated than it appears’. “GSP Plus is not something that we can tick-off as an achievement under the 100 Day program and is not a simple exercise. GSP Plus is about Sri Lanka’s compliance with 27 international conventions. I am pleased to inform you that the EU Trade Working Group (TWG), a senior delegation on GSP Plus led by a very senior trade official of EU, will be here from 23 March onwards and the GSP Plus discussions will start on 24 March. We should celebrate that through next week’s TWG, we have started the discussion process” announced (HE) David Daly (EU Ambassador to Sri Lanka) on 18 March in Colombo.

(HE) Daly was addressing Rishad Bathiudeen (Minister of Industry and Commerce of Sri Lanka) during his lengthy discussions with Minister Bathiudeen on 18 March at EDB, Colombo. Joining Minister Bathiudeen were Bandula Egodage (Chairman & CEO-EDB) and officials of Department of Commerce.

“The EU-Lanka trade relationship is a very healthy one and we want to make this even better. At this moment, the EU is in discussion on Sri Lanka GSP Plus issue. EU GSP+ demands a lot of close cooperation over many months to come. GSP Plus is not something that we can tick-off as an achievement under the 100 Day program and is not a simple exercise.

GSP Plus is about Sri Lanka’s compliance with 27 international conventions on Human Rights-including torture, harassment, media freedom and civil & political rights guaranteed by these conventions! It’s a very wide agenda. When at the final stage, when the EU is asked to make up its mind about Lanka GSP Plus and decide, it will again consider the developed ground situation here upto that moment and the day to day realities across all these 27 aspects in the country like taking a photo snapshots of each of them-and construct it and review it.

If all ‘snapshots’ are positive then there will be no problems in GSP+ recovery. If any of these aspects seem to be negative, then it will affect the process. It’s therefore very, very important to work with EU over a long period to monitor how positive or negative these “snapshots” would be. For example, the most recent report from UN, issued during the autumn is very negative and such reports will affect the recovery. I am pleased to inform you that the EU Trade Working Group (TWG), a senior delegation on GSP Plus led by a very senior trade official of EU will be here from 23 March onwards and the GSP Plus and discussions will start on 24 March. We should celebrate that through next week’s TWG, we have started the discussion process which will continue at the Joint Commission (JC) in early April in Colombo. The JC that follows will cover the entire spectrum of Lanka-EU affairs including political matters, trade development, and will be held on April 02 in Colombo with other government Ministries taking part.

The conclusions of the 24 March TWG rounds will be fed into 02 April Colombo JC sessions and the EU JC delegation will suggest ways of future cooperation with Sri Lanka at the end of 02 April JC. The TWG is led by Van Heukelen (former Head of Office of Trade Commissioner and currently the Director GSP Plus Affairs, Brussels) while the JC will be led by Ugo Astuto (Director General of European Union External Action Service in Brussels). It’s very good that we are able to get them to come to Colombo so quickly. The TWG will be an important point of regular contact between the EU and Sri Lanka on all trade matters.”

Bilateral trade between EU and Sri Lanka exceeded the $5 Bn mark in 2014 for the first time at $5.07 Bn, increasing by 3.6% from 2013’s $4.9 Bn. 69% of 2014 EU-Lanka trade were Lankan exports to EU. Apparel was the biggest export item in 2014 at $2.16 Bn growing by 10.5% (YoY), second biggest ‘rubber tyres & tubes’ at $208 Mn and third biggest (interestingly) was ‘frozen fish’ at $90 Mn.

Responding to EU Ambassador Daly, Minister Bathiudeen said: “As a result of losing GSP Plus, we have lost considerable apparel revenues in the last few years” responded Minister Bathiudeen, and added: “A key element in the 100 Day Program of our government of HE the President Maithripala Sirisena and Hon Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe is exports promotion and recovery of GSP Plus facility from the European Union. So far we have been receiving positive signs in this regard from EU and we are encouraged. Recovery of GSP Plus would be a great step forward for our competitive apparel sector and its global image. We warmly welcome the EU TWG team to Colombo and look forward to a very constructive level of engagement. We are very keen to recover this and shall direct my officials to extend any assistance that you may require in this regard.”

EU TWG delegation about GSP Plus, meeting Lankan officials in Colombo on 24 March is expected to be a six-member strong team.