BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

15/06/2007

EU to withdraw trade preferences from Belarus as it fails to reform labor rights

BRUSSELS (AP) - The European Union said Friday it would withdraw preferential trade tariffs from Belarus for its failure to reform labor rights - a move that will increase the cost of some Belarus goods to European markets.

EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson said Belarus was clearly flouting International Labor Organization standards that insist all workers should be able to join trade unions and make collective wage deals with employers.

Scrapping the EU trade breaks from June 21 will mean tariffs will be 3 percent higher for the 10th of Belarus exports to the EU that have preferential rates - mostly farm machinery and chemicals.

It will not affect oil and gas exports that pass through Belarus from Russia to Europe.

The European Commission said it regretted that Belarus had ignored repeated calls to make real changes to human rights law.

"As soon as Belarus complies with its ILO obligations, the Commission will propose that its (trade) preferences are reinstated," it said. "The situation is now in the hands of the Belarusian authorities."

"The Commission urges the Belarusian authorities to act now to ensure the full respect of Belarusian workers rights," it said. "Respect for workers rights should be an integral part of the EU's trade policy objectives."

The EU has largely cut contacts with the Belarusian government, imposing financial sanctions and a travel ban on President Alexander Lukashenko and other leaders it accuses of rigging elections and cracking down on opponents.

The Geneva-based ILO released a statement earlier Friday that said Belarus had not made progress on giving workers the right to join unions.

It called on the government to make sure all workers' and employers' organizations could operate freely and to discuss with unions changes to a draft trade union law to make sure it complies with international commitments.

The EU's executive first suggested withdrawing trade preferences in 2003, when it found the former Soviet republic was denying workers their right to join unions and to make collective deals with employers.

In 2004, an ILO investigation found that Belarus was not obeying ILO agreements it had signed.

Last year, the EU said it would broadcast a message to the people of Belarus holding out the prospect of increased trade, job opportunities, easier travel to the West, and EU aid to hospitals, schools, energy networks and the environment.

To gain the benefits of closer contact with the EU, Belarus would have to allow free elections and meet standards of free speech, human rights, independent media and judiciary, the EU said.

Trade between Belarus and the EU represents only about 0.1 percent of total EU trade flows. But some $6 billion of Belarus' 2004 external trade of $16.7 billion was with the European Union, according to EU figures.

Top exports to the EU included mineral oils, lubricants and related materials, while top EU exports to Belarus were machinery and automotive products.

Belarus, however, is the main land transit route from EU countries to Moscow. Russian oil and gas pipelines to western Europe pass through the country, including part of the world's longest oil pipeline, which transports oil from central Russia to Germany.

Source:

http://www.kyivpost.com/bn/26805/

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