Pakistan leads GSP+ gains, faces reform test

Pakistan has emerged as the top beneficiary of the European Union’s GSP+ trade scheme, recording €7.5 billion in exports to the EU in 2024 under preferential tariffs. According to the 5th GSP Report released on Thursday, which evaluates how well beneficiary countries implement 27 core international conventions, Pakistan also achieved an impressive utilisation rate of over 95 percent. This highlights the country’s highly effective use of the tariff advantages, comfortably outperforming other GSP+ member nations such as the Philippines and Sri Lanka.

While the GSP+ arrangement has played a significant role in boosting Pakistan’s export sector, with the EU serving as its main export market and receiving 28 percent of its total exports, the European Union has expressed grave concerns over a serious deterioration in the implementation of human rights conventions. In its monitoring report, the EU urged Pakistan to reverse negative developments that occurred between 2023 and 2025 to ensure future GSP+ eligibility and compliance with international commitments, particularly as revised GSP rules are set to take effect in 2027.

The monitoring mission flagged persistent challenges, noting a distinct regression in several areas. The EU highlighted rising concerns over enforced disappearances, extrajudicial killings, and a lack of accountability for perpetrators. Furthermore, media freedom and freedom of expression have deteriorated sharply. The working environment for journalists has grown increasingly hostile, characterised by intimidation, judicial harassment, and strategic lawsuits against public participation (SLAPPs). The EU noted that laws on cybercrime (such as the Pakistan Electronic Crimes Act), blasphemy, defamation, counter-terrorism, and sedition contain vague provisions that are frequently used to suppress dissidents, human rights defenders, and minority groups, producing a chilling effect across civil society. Recent constitutional amendments were also criticised for undermining judicial independence, compounding existing obstacles to fair trials and access to justice.

The report did acknowledge limited progress, though it noted these positive developments were overshadowed by the broader regression. Notable achievements included the creation of a National Commission for Minorities, the adoption of implementing rules for the Anti-Torture Act, and a reduction in the scope of the death penalty, which was abolished for offenses such as railway sabotage, narcotics crimes, and the public stripping of women. Other advances included the passage of a Domestic Violence Bill for Islamabad, the country’s first marital rape conviction, and the ratification of the ILO Protocol of 2014 to the Forced Labour Convention. However, the EU emphasised that these legislative and administrative steps must be translated into real, verifiable improvements on the ground to secure Pakistan’s trade privileges in the future.