European Commission Confirms Philippines GSP Plus Application Eligibility

In recent days, the European Commission has agreed to apply for Philippines to join the GSP+ system. This will hopefully enable Philippines's 2442 products, including textiles and garments, to enter the 28 EU countries without tariff.

The committee said it had assessed Philippines's application for entry to GSP+ in February and confirmed Philippines's eligibility.

The committee also pointed out that Philippines's proposal to join the GSP+ should be passed as soon as possible so that Philippines could enjoy the preferential treatment of GSP+ as early as possible, and this move was also supported by Philippines's textile, garment and footwear enterprises.

The European Sporting Goods Industry Association (FESI) hopes to pass the application of Philippines GSP+ immediately, and points out that the move will provide more opportunities for the European sporting goods industry to choose high-quality manufacturing enterprises.

FESI Secretary General Alberto Bichi added: "because of the need to formulate procurement plans ahead of time, it is very important for the European Parliament and Member States to accelerate the application of Philippines GSP+, so that our industry will have a clear decision."

EU's generalized preferences

The system (GSP) allows developing countries to export products to EU countries with lower tariffs or zero tariffs.

GSP is an important system for developing countries to enter the EU market, and it can also promote national economic growth.

GSP+ provides beneficiaries

More trade facilitation in developing countries is needed to implement the international conventions on human rights and labour rights and sustainable development.

The European Commission's proposal is still subject to formal approval from the European Parliament and EU Member States, but it is unclear how long it will take to further approve the application.

It hopes to enjoy tariff free treatment since January 1, 2015.

"We hope that before the end of this year, the European Parliament will approve our application," said Adrian Cristobal, Vice Minister of trade.

The preferential terms of GSP+ will promote the export of Philippines products to the EU and pform them into domestic productivity.

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Council of Scientific and Industrial Research-Central Leather Research Institute, CSIR-CLRI developed a dispersant (dispersing agent) in India.

This dispersant can be applied in leather processing, including water saving and desalting.

The Institute has applied for technology patents for this technology, and commercial use has been recognized.

Its long-term plan is to pfer patent licensing to enterprises in the global chemical industry, which is also beneficial to India and world leather industry.

In leather processing, there is a need for multiprogramming. Each 1 kilograms of raw leather requires about 30 litres of water.

Globally, processing about 30000 metric tons of leather products a day requires about 900 million liters of water.

Due to increasingly stringent environmental protection supervision, most of the tannery water discharge and processing costs are higher and higher.

The Institute says this innovative technology allows the global leather industry to retain most of its tannery water every day.

At the same time, salt should be used before tannery, and this dispersant can also be used to integrate salt in leather making.

In addition, the technology can dedust (delimeing), soften (bating) and non pickle tannery (Pickle-free tanning) in leather drying. It does not require additional facilities. At the same time, it can reduce chemical input by 50% and shorten the tanning time by 30%.