EU advances trade relief for tsunami-hit nations

EU advances trade relief for tsunami-hit nations

Agence France-Presse Brussels

The European Union has agreed to accelerate trade help for Asian countries hit by the devastating tsunami, in particular Sri Lanka, officials said.

Senior bureaucrats from EU trade ministries agreed to bring forward a new "Generalized System of Preferences" (GSP) for the countries concerned in advance of the scheme's planned introduction in July.

"We're aiming now for it to enter into force on April 1," said Claude Veron-Reville, spokeswoman for EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson.

"We can go ahead with a proposal to anticipate a reform that improves and enlarges the benefits of the GSP, in particular for the countries affected by the tsunami," she said.

The EU system grants products imported from GSP beneficiary countries either duty-free access or a tariff reduction.

Of the countries hit by the Dec. 26 earthquake and tidal wave, Sri Lanka would benefit the most from the reformed GSP by seeing EU customs duties on its textiles and clothing exports reduced to zero.

Thailand would benefit from a reduction from 12 percent to 4.2 percent on its lucrative shrimp exports to Europe. India and Indonesia would gain from better terms on their textile exports.

The EU may also, on a "case by case basis", suspend anti- dumping and anti-subsidy duties against companies in the affected countries, diplomats said.

The death toll across the Indian Ocean from the disaster is now close to 222,000, with Indonesia suffering by far the most fatalities.

EU finance ministers last Tuesday analyzed the economic fallout of the tsunami, and invited the EU's European Investment Bank to draw up proposals for long-term reconstruction aid.

On Monday, EU fisheries ministers will hold a preliminary discussion on what help they can give to fishermen who lost their livelihoods in the disaster.

One idea floated by the European Commission is for member states to send trawlers that were due to be scrapped under EU quota restrictions to the flood-hit countries.