Myanmar seeks continued trade favour from the EU

Myanmar trade unions have appealed for the European Union (EU) to continue granting Generalised Scheme of Preferences (GSP) while reassuring that support and cooperation will be made on human and labour rights reforms.

The Union of Myanmar Federation of the Chambers of Commerce (UMFCCI), in collaboration with the Confederation of Trade Unions of Myanmar (CTUM) and the Myanmar Industries, Craft and Services, Trade Unions Federation (MICS), have released a joint statement appealing for EU to continue granting Everything But Arms (EBA) scheme, part of the bloc’s GSP.

The three trade organisations hosted a talk today under the heading “Together We succeed , Why GSP is Essential for Decent Work and Industrial Peace” at Yangon’s UMFCCI office, with UMFCCI chair, CTUM chair, officials, diplomats and NGOs attending.

Myanmar currently benefits from the EU’s EBA scheme, part of the bloc’s GSP, but a high-level, emergency EU mission visited Myanmar in October to explore the possibility of revoking the country’s preferential trade status. Additionally, EU Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmström on October 3 had also announced that the bloc was considering ending Myanmar’s trade privileges due to human rights violations in northern Rakhine.

The joint statement from the trade organisations stated that Myanmar will continue supporting ongoing reforms and programmes to respect human and labour rights which the trade preferences are based on. It emphasised that such “drastic actions” taken by EU would only make things worse off for the existing labour market which is “fragile and underdeveloped.” Revoking the GSP/EBA scheme will lead to “catastrophic economic and social consequences”, destroy the livelihoods of the grassroot employees, and derail Myanmar’s ongoing journey towards decent work and industrial peace, it stated.

U Zaw Min Win, chair of UMFCCI, said that “After [today’s] meeting a joint-decision will be made by UMFCCI and CTUM, and as an aftermath of this we will [collect] signatures from related organisations and labour groups requesting for GSP to not be withdrawn.”

In 2013, the EU reinstated GSP for Myanmar as a means to provide political, economic and social support to help the country move towards democracy. Thus, Myanmar benefits from the EU’s EBA scheme, part of the EU’s GSP.

Source: The Myanmar Times