BRUSSELS (New Europe) — Uzbekistan has made an official request for EU Generalised System of Preferences (GSP+) beneficiary country status, the Uzbek Foreign Affairs and Investment Ministry said on 12 June.

Uzbekistan is already using the basic GSP, which allows exporting to the EU countries about 3,000 goods without paying duties and 3,2000 positions — at reduced rates. However, within the framework of GSP+, the number of products that Uzbek manufacturers can sell to the EU without trade restrictions will rise almost double — up to 6,200, he said.

Uzbekistan is already using the basic GSP, which allows around 3,000 products to be exported to EU countries free of duty and 3,000 more products at reduced rates. However, under GSP+, the number of products that Uzbek exporters will be able to sell to the EU without trade restrictions will almost double to 6,200.

To receive additional benefits, Uzbekistan has ratified and has started to implement 27 international conventions. Among them are the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety to the 2000 Convention on Biological Diversity and the 2001 Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants.

In order to benefit from additional advantages, Uzbekistan has ratified and started to implement 27 international conventions. These include the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety to the 2000 Convention on Biological Diversity and the 2001 Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants.

At this stage, Uzbekistan has received a preliminary opinion on the fulfilment of the conditions required to obtain the status of GSP+ beneficiary country.

According to the State Statistics Committee, six EU countries are among the twenty main trade partners of Uzbekistan now. The largest commodity turnover is between Uzbekistan and Germany. Over the four months of this year, it amounted to $214.3 mln. Next come Lithuania ($133.4 mln), Italy ($111.4 mln), France ($104.5 mln), Latvia ($100.7 mln) and the Czech Republic ($63.2 mln). «»