EU Extends GSP+ Benefits to Uzbekistan

The European Union will remove tariffs on two-thirds of product lines for goods from Uzbekistan as part of the Central Asian nation receiving Generalised Scheme of Preferences Plus benefits. Uzbekistan received the extra benefits in exchange for implementing the 27 core international conventions under the EU's sustainable development and good governance (GSP+) incentive program, the EU said in an April 9 news release. Among these conventions, the EU singled out Uzbekistan's progress on business climate, the judicial system, security services, labor conditions and administrative accountability. Child labor, for instance, was a practice the nation has sought to systematically eliminate. GSP+ status applies effective April 10.