Matthew Green
The EU hopes to grant greater market access to Pakistani exporters within the next few months following decisions by India, Bangladesh and other countries to drop their objections to the move.
The EU first proposed granting trade concessions to Pakistan after devastating floods ravaged the country in 2010. The new terms will be valid for two years and chiefly benefit Pakistan?s textile industry.
The plan had been held up at the World Trade Organisation by opposition from countries including India and Bangladesh and some Latin American and south-east Asian exporters.
EU officials, who have been lobbying these countries to agree to the plan, are optimistic the WTO will endorse the new trade terms at a series of meetings next month.
With the WTO hurdles cleared, the EU could enshrine the new trade terms into law as early as April or May.
?We are hopeful these trade concessions will finally be approved by the WTO, and then adopted into law by the European Union,? Lars-Gunnar Wigemark, the EU ambassador to Pakistan, told the Financial Times. ?It looks very positive.?
The improved terms apply to more than 70 items, mainly textiles but also some ethanol products. Textiles account for some 60 per cent of Pakistan?s exports.
The EU hopes improved trade terms will bolster a broader drive by Brussels to improve ties with Islamabad.
India shelved its objections late last year as both sides began to take steps to improve ties.