BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

18/06/2007

EU To Scrap Trade Preferences To Belarus Over Labor Rights

EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson on June 15 said the EU will withdraw its preferential trade tariffs for Belarus as of June 21 because of the country's failure to reform labor rights, Reuters and AP reported. "Europe attaches great importance to work and labor conditions, and increasingly to environmental safeguards also. In this case Belarus is clearly flouting ILO [International Labor Organization] standards," Mandelson noted in a statement. Earlier the same day, the Geneva-based ILO issued a statement saying that Belarus has not made progress on giving workers the right to join trade unions. Belarusian exports will now be subject to the EU's standard import tariffs, which are three percentage points higher than preferential rates. The move will affect some 10 percent of Belarus's exports to the EU, mostly farm machinery and chemicals. JM

Source:

http://www.rferl.org/newsline/2007/06/3-cee/cee-180607.asp