Concessions: WTO delays vote on EU trade breaks to Pakistan

EU plan to grant trade concessions to Pakistan suffers setback.

BRUSSELS: A European Union (EU) plan to grant trade concessions to Pakistan suffered a setback this week after a number of non-EU countries complained that it would hurt their economies, according to diplomats and officials.

A World Trade Organisation (WTO) committee in Geneva delayed, for two months, a vote that had been scheduled for Monday on allowing the EU to waive duties temporarily on some Pakistani imports to help it recover from last summer’s floods, the diplomats said.

“Discussions are ongoing, but the decision to delay the vote does not bode well for the success of the waiver,” one diplomat said. It was not immediately clear which countries oppose the measures, which would apply to 75 goods. The EU has estimated that the package could boost Pakistani sales by 100 million euros.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 3^rd, 2011.