WEB DESK: The European Union’s latest GSP+ monitoring report presents Pakistan as a key economic partner, acknowledging sustained progress in trade, governance, human rights, labour standards and environmental reforms under the Generalised Scheme of Preferences Plus (GSP+).
Pakistan remains the largest beneficiary of the EU’s GSP+ scheme, with the report highlighting significant gains in exports, industrial production and employment generated through preferential market access.
In 2024, Pakistani exports worth €7.482 billion were eligible for GSP+ preferences, while €7.115 billion successfully benefited from the scheme, resulting in an impressive 95.1% preference-utilisation rate. The figures demonstrate that Pakistani exporters continue to make highly effective use of the preferential trade arrangement.
The European Union also remained Pakistan’s largest export destination, accounting for 28% of the country’s total exports, underlining the strategic importance of the Pakistan-EU economic partnership.
According to the report, Pakistan secured an estimated €732 million in tariff savings during 2024, equivalent to nearly 9% of its total exports to the EU, providing substantial commercial relief and enhancing the competitiveness of Pakistani products in European markets.
The country’s five largest export sectors—including clothing, textiles, leather, prepared foods and miscellaneous manufactured products—recorded preference-utilisation rates ranging from 93.6% to 97.7%, reinforcing their role in sustaining labour-intensive industries and employment.
The report further acknowledges Pakistan’s continued commitment to all 27 international conventions underpinning the GSP+ framework. Pakistan maintained all treaty ratifications, entered no new reservations and remained broadly compliant with its international reporting obligations.
The EU also recognised Pakistan’s constructive engagement throughout the GSP+ monitoring process, including its active participation in the monitoring mission conducted during November and December 2025, reflecting transparency, institutional engagement and continued cooperation with international partners.
On human rights and institutional development, the report notes several important achievements. Pakistan’s National Commission for Human Rights received GANHRI A-status accreditation in 2024, while national commissions responsible for women’s and children’s rights continued to strengthen their oversight and advocacy roles.
The report highlights progress in prison reforms, implementation of anti-torture legislation, judicial capacity-building and efforts to reduce the Supreme Court’s appeals backlog, describing these as indicators of gradual but steady institutional improvement.
Developments in criminal justice were also recognised. Pakistan removed four offences from the scope of capital punishment, maintained a continued absence of executions since December 2019, and exercised presidential clemency in October 2025, reflecting ongoing reforms within the justice system.
The report identifies notable progress in protecting the rights of women and children. Domestic violence legislation has now been completed across all provinces and Islamabad, Sindh recorded the country’s first marital rape conviction, and several jurisdictions introduced reforms to strengthen child marriage laws.
Pakistan’s expanding social protection framework also received positive recognition. The report highlights the National Education Emergency Action Plan, teacher recruitment initiatives, reopening of schools and enrolment campaigns that brought between 25,000 and 30,000 children into schools in Islamabad.
Labour reforms emerged as another key area of progress. Pakistan ratified the ILO Protocol to the Forced Labour Convention in March 2025, established district vigilance committees and adopted child labour action plans across all provinces and territories.
The report further notes that initiatives such as the gender pay gap study, the national wage reform action plan and a roadmap for formalising small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and workers demonstrate that labour-market reforms are increasingly moving from legislation towards practical implementation.
Environmental governance also received positive assessment. Pakistan fulfilled important reporting obligations under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and other multilateral environmental agreements, ratified the Kigali Amendment, and introduced updated policy frameworks covering climate change, clean air, biodiversity conservation and hazardous waste management.
The report additionally recognises Pakistan’s upgrade to Category 1 under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), confirming that the country’s national legislation now meets international convention standards.
Governance reforms were also acknowledged, including completion of the second-cycle implementation review under the UN Convention against Corruption (UNCAC), strengthened pharmaceutical regulation, improvements in narcotics legislation and the introduction of digital case-management systems.
Beyond trade, the report underlines the broader strategic partnership between Pakistan and the European Union. Under the 2021–2027 Multiannual Indicative Programme, the EU has committed €400 million to support Pakistan’s priorities, including green growth, human capital development, governance reforms, education, climate resilience, the rule of law, skills development and women’s economic participation.
Overall, the report portrays Pakistan as a country that continues to derive substantial economic benefits from the GSP+ framework while demonstrating sustained engagement with international commitments and incremental progress across key governance, human rights, labour and environmental sectors.
