Burmas eksport til de 27 EU-lande er reelt minimal og det vil Europa-kommissionen nu lave om på ved at åbne grænserne for en stribe burmesiske produkter, først og fremmest tekstiler og anden beklædning.
The European Union plans to further ease sanctions on Burma in response to a perceived improvement in the conditions of Burmese workers, BBC online reports Wednesday.
The EU Commission proposal – yet to be adopted by EU leaders – would open up EU markets for Burmese goods. But a ban on arms sales would remain.
The EU would remove tariffs and quotas, reinstating the Generalised System of Preferences (GSP). Burma lost GSP status in 1997 because of concern about forced labour.
Burma’s exports to the EU totalled just 169 million euros in 2011, the Commission says – about three percent of the Asian country’s total exports to the world. Textiles formed the bulk of those exports to the EU.
In April the EU suspended sanctions against a large number of Burmese individuals and companies, in response to the country’s political reforms. That suspension lasts until the next review, in April 2013, when it may be extended.
The EU Commission said Monday that its proposal to restore GSP status for Burma was based on an International Labour Organization (ILO) conclusion that the country had made “significant” progress in tackling forced labour.
GSP benefits 176 developing countries – the arrangement is also known as “Everything But Arms”.
