A team from Brussels will be visiting Sri Lanka next month to review the progress made by the government in implementing the 15 demands set out by the European Union (EU) before it decides to withdraw the ban on the GSP+ tax concessions. The planned visit comes after a three member team from the Foreign Ministry visited Brussels last week where they held a day long talks with EU officials on the GSP+ facility.
Once the team assesses Sri Lanka’s status, Colombo would submit a fresh application to the EU to seek withdrawal of ban on GSP+ facility. The EU withdrew the GSP+ facility three years ago citing labour, human rights and several other issues and called on the then government to addresses these issues. On the other hand, the International Labour Organisation (ILO) has appealed to the government to implement, at the very earliest, the eight Core-Conventions if it is to regain the GSP+ trading facility with the European Union (EU).
The Conventions include elimination of forced, slave and child labour, the elimination of on grounds of gender, ethnicity, religion and disability, and the enforcement of labour rights – meaning the freedom of association and collective bargaining, the minimum age of a worker and equal remuneration. ILO has also suggested that wage policy must be reformed in the public sector, since it impacts wage trends in the whole economy including the private sector.
