The Commission recommended on 15 December that member states suspend the preferential trade terms after a Commission report published in October found “significant shortcomings” in Sri Lanka's compliance with its human-rights commitments under the scheme, known as the GSP+ regime.
Sri Lankan officials say that the suspension is unfair because it refers to the situation on the ground when the country was at war against Tamil insurgents. They argue that the situation has much improved since the Tamil Tigers were defeated last year. EU diplomats dispute this view and say that the problems are not all linked to the Tamil situation.
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