LAHORE: European Union Ambassador Raimundas Karoblis urged Pakistan’s textile exporters Friday to speed up implementation of required labor, governance and environmental conventions, warning that progress is essential to extend the country’s GSP Plus trade preferences beyond 2027.
Karoblis made the appeal during talks with leaders of the All Pakistan Textile Mills Association at APTMA House in Lahore. He was accompanied by First Secretary Kert Ajamaa, Development Cooperation Manager Theis Munksgaard-Hansen and Senior Economist and Trade Advisor Husnain A. Iftakhar.
The ambassador said Pakistan must show measurable progress in legislating and enforcing the laws and conventions tied to GSP Plus status. He called on the business community, especially exporters, to engage with the government on concerns raised by the European Commission — chiefly human and labour rights, governance and environmental issues — saying that addressing them would smooth the path toward a possible 10-year extension.
Karoblis credited Pakistan’s textile industry for advances on sustainability, an issue he said ranks high among EU considerations for renewing the facility.
APTMA Chairman Kamran Arshad said the EU is Pakistan’s largest trading partner and that GSP Plus has helped the textile sector compete more effectively in regional markets. The facility grants duty-free access to EU countries for 78% of Pakistan’s products, he said, boosting export share while supporting jobs, investment, technology upgrades and foreign investment.
Arshad said the program has also advanced Pakistan’s shift toward a greener economy and zero-carbon emissions, with several textile companies expected to hit net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. He urged that GSP Plus be kept in place until Pakistan reaches economic stability, arguing that further export diversification could unlock additional benefits.
He warned that losing GSP Plus would cripple exports and erode the textile industry’s competitiveness, estimating annual losses of at least 1 trillion Pakistani rupees (about $3.6 billion), plus rising unemployment, mill closures and deeper poverty.
The damage would spread beyond textiles, Arshad said, hitting banking, real estate, transportation and allied sectors. More than 40% of bank loans go to the textile sector, according to APTMA. He added that withdrawal could also undercut initiatives on environmental protection, human rights, labour and gender rights, anti-corruption and narcotics control.
APTMA Chairman North Asad Shafi told the ambassador that Pakistan’s textile industry has imported billions of dollars’ worth of textile machinery from EU member states as part of its expansion. He voiced hope that GSP Plus would be extended to support poverty alleviation and raise workers’ take-home pay through better skills.
Shafi pressed the EU to help finalize a Pakistan-EU free trade agreement — modeled on the India-EU FTA — before any withdrawal of GSP Plus. He briefed Karoblis on APTMA’s advocacy for GSP Plus compliance and its work building Pakistan’s compliance infrastructure, detailing the proposed National Compliance Entity’s facilitative, regulatory and dispute-settlement roles.
APTMA, he said, will stay engaged until the GSP Plus reapplication process is complete and a comprehensive National Action Plan is in place.
