ISLAMABAD: To gauge Pakistan’s performance on 27 conventions for clinching benefits under GSP Plus, the European Union (EU) has found that Pakistan has been facing compliance issues with its GSP+ obligations.
It has regressed in a number of areas, while positive change was limited, says the monitoring report, jointly released by the European Commission and the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy on Thursday. It revealed that Pakistan benefited from the EU’s Special Incentive Arrangement for Sustainable Development and Good Governance (GSP+) since 2014, remaining its largest beneficiary with EUR 7.5 billion in GSP+ eligible exports to the EU in 2024 (primarily textiles and clothing) and an estimated EUR 732 million in tariff exemptions in 2024 alone. Pakistan’s exports to the EU grew 91.45 per cent since obtaining GSP+ status in 2014, reflecting the trade scheme’s role in driving export growth, said the European Union’s fifth report on implementation of the GSP scheme.
“Among GSP+ beneficiaries, Pakistan stands out with EUR 7.1 billion worth of GSP+ imports into the EU and a preference utilisation rate of 95.1pc,” it said, indicating that Pakistani exporters are making extensive use of the duty-free market access available under the programme.
Overall, the European Union imported nearly EUR 60 billion worth of goods under the GSP scheme in 2024, up from around EUR 52 billion in 2023. Despite this trade success, economic fragility persisted, exacerbated by climate vulnerabilities and negative political developments.
During the 2023-2025 monitoring period, Pakistan has been facing compliance issues with its GSP+ obligations. It has regressed in a number of areas while positive change was limited. Notable progress included legislation to create a National Commission for Minorities, a reduction in the scope of the death penalty, the continuation of the de facto moratorium on executions and the adoption of implementing rules of the Anti-Torture Act. Other legislative advances include a Domestic Violence Bill for Islamabad. A first marital rape conviction was an important milestone. The National Commission for Human Rights (NCHR) has become, together with the Ministries of Law and Justice as well as Human Rights, a key factor in Pakistan’s efforts to respect, protect and fulfil human rights obligations. Labour rights saw progress with the ratification of the ILO Protocol of 2014 to the Forced Labour Convention, 1930, and expanded monitoring mechanisms, but overall enforcement remains weak. New action plans to address child labour have been adopted, but child labour rates are only slowly decreasing. In general, most progress is of legislative and administrative nature and needs to be translated into real improvements on the ground.
“Significant concerns remained, generally impacting the rule of law and civil society space. Enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings increased, without accountability for perpetrators. Freedom of expression deteriorated due to further amendments to cybercrime, anti-terrorism and blasphemy laws, allowing for vague provisions to be used against dissidents, human rights defenders, journalists, minorities and ordinary citizens,” the report says.
This includes criminal and administrative procedures that may result in imprisonment, financial confiscation or denial to travel abroad. Recent constitutional amendments have been criticised for further undermining judicial independence. This compounds with issues like obstacles to fair trial and access to justice. Forced labour continued to affect too many, it added.
To ensure further GSP+ eligibility and compliance with international commitments, including in view of the revised GSP rules as of 2027, key priorities for future engagement include: ensuring accountability for human rights violations; increased efforts against torture; in-prison and capital punishment reforms; reversing negative developments in relation to enforced disappearances and violations of freedom of expression; effectively addressing violence against women; securing children’s access to education; ending child marriage; effectively implementing the newly established action plans of provinces and territories to eliminate child labour; stepping up the enforcement of existing laws against forced labour; restraining discrimination of minorities; strengthening the independence, impartiality, and operational capacity of anti-corruption bodies at federal and provincial levels.
Pakistan’s fragile political structure, including the complex federal set-up and imbalances between provinces, as well as the role of the military in politics and the economy, created a significant challenge to the country’s development, as did escalating security concerns stemming from domestic militancy, terrorism as well as conflict with neighbouring countries.
Pakistan was involved in a brief but intense military conflict with India in May 2025. Relations with Afghanistan have been very tense since October 2025, leading to the closure of the border between the two countries, occurrences of terrorist attacks originating from Afghan soil and Pakistani airstrikes into Afghan territory. Pakistan’s political landscape during the 2023-2025 monitoring cycle was shaped by persistent complaints about the integrity of the 2024 electoral process, harsh measures against opposition party leaders and supporters, and further increased military influence. Economically, Pakistan avoided a debt default in July 2023 after facing severe pressure on external payments, minimal foreign exchange reserves, import restrictions, record-high inflation and negligible growth. The World Bank estimates that 47.2pc of Pakistan’s population lived in poverty in 2025. Devastating floods in 2022 and 2025 had negative economic and social impact. The country is ranked on top of the Global Climate Risk Index (2024).
Compared to the previous period, EU imports from Pakistan in 2022-20243 remained high, peaking at EUR 9.4 billion in 2022, then falling to EUR 7.9 billion in 2023 and rebounding to EUR 8.3 billion in 2024, reflecting a broader slowdown in EU demand. Pakistan remained the largest GSP+ beneficiary, and the EU its main export market, accounting for 28pc of its total exports, with textiles and clothing making up roughly 70-76pc of the country’s exports to the EU in 2024.
On the import side, the EU ranks sixth among Pakistan’s suppliers, with imports valued at EUR 2.7 billion, well behind China, which is Pakistan’s largest supplier with imports reaching EUR 14.7 billion in 2024. From 2022 to 2024, about 90pc of EU imports from Pakistan were GSP+-eligible, with a utilisation rate averaging 93pc and rebounding to 95pc in 2024 after an exceptional dip in 2023 driven by supply-chain disruptions and weaker demand in clothing and home textiles. As a result of GSP+, Pakistan benefited from around EUR 732 million in tariff exemptions in 2024. This corresponds to around 9pc of Pakistan’s export value to the EU in 2024.
Pakistan has maintained ratification of all 27 GSP+ relevant conventions and has issued no new reservations. Although, Pakistan was largely compliant with its reporting obligations to the monitoring bodies during the reporting period, it does not have a system in place to effectively follow up on treaty bodies’ concluding observations and shows only limited engagement with UN Special Procedures.
The report said several GSP+ beneficiaries strengthened human rights legislation and institutional frameworks during the reporting period. It noted that Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Sri Lanka and Pakistan reinforced laws against domestic violence, while Bolivia, Mongolia, Uzbekistan and the Philippines introduced child protection reforms.
“Pakistan reduced the scope of the death penalty and adopted implementing rules of the Anti-Torture Act, as well as new Child Marriage Restraint Acts in Balochistan and Islamabad.”
It said several GSP+ beneficiaries also advanced environmental protection measures, while governance related to drug control and anti-corruption improved in a number of countries. Updated anti-corruption policies were introduced in Bolivia, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
According to the report, economic crises in Bolivia and Sri Lanka, along with natural disasters in Pakistan, the Philippines and Sri Lanka, exacerbated structural challenges and weakened implementation capacity during the reporting period.
The report also highlighted the Trade for Decent Work project, jointly funded by the European Union and Finland and implemented by the ILO between 2019-2021 and 2022-2024 with a budget of EUR 6 million.
The initiative supported the implementation of fundamental ILO conventions in seven countries under the EU’s GSP+ and Everything But Arms arrangements, including Bangladesh, Cabo Verde, Madagascar, Mongolia, Mozambique, Pakistan and the Philippines.
According to the report, 65 developing countries currently benefit from the EU’s GSP scheme, including 44 least developed countries. Together, they account for more than three billion people worldwide, over one billion of whom live in LDCs.
In 2024, GSP beneficiary countries received an estimated EUR 5 billion in tariff savings, with EBA beneficiaries accounting for more than EUR 3 billion of the total.
