Overview
- EU diplomats and MEPs warned in early September that Pakistan must show verifiable progress on issues such as enforced disappearances, press freedom, minority protection, judicial independence, and forced labour to keep GSP+ privileges.
- The European Commission’s 2023–2025 assessment found backsliding in several areas and flagged no convictions in enforced-disappearance cases while Pakistan’s own body registered 273 new cases in 2025.
- Pakistan is the largest GSP+ beneficiary, with about €7.5 billion of exports eligible in 2024 and roughly €7.1 billion actually using preferences, producing roughly €732 million in estimated tariff savings that year.
- The EU’s revised GSP rules take effect on January 1, 2027, raising monitored conventions from 27 to 32 and requiring beneficiaries to reapply after a two-year transition that ends in 2028 under stricter standards.
- Pakistan’s commerce ministry has started mapping EU recommendations and drafting an institutional action plan, but EU officials insist that laws or signatures alone will not be enough without deadlines, measurable targets and accountability, and losing GSP+ could expose some textile products to roughly 9–12 percent in extra tariffs.