Sri Lanka is likely to regain the European Union Generalised Scheme of Preferences (GSP) Plus trade concession for garments exports, Deputy Minister Dr. Harsha de Silva said today.

 

He told reporters that the government was extremely hopeful that within a matter of months Sri Lanka will be able to get GSP Plus back. He added that no fresh conditions have been made and the government was working very closely with the EU.

 

The GSP Plus concession had helped the garment industry until 2010. Sri Lanka lost the EU concession in 2010 after the Mahinda Rajapaksa government rejected demands from the international community to address human rights abuses allegedly committed during the latter stage of the war against the LTTE.

 

Since ousting Rajapaksa in January, President Maithripala Sirisena's administration has agreed to address the alleged rights violations through an impartial local mechanism that meets international standards.

 

Meanwhile, Sirisena has drastically improved Sri Lanka's relations with the West and India, marking a clear departure from Rajapaksa's China-first policy. The UN in March postponed an international war crimes report at the request of the new government. The report is due in September.