Obama’s GSP benefit to genocidal Sri Lanka effective from Saturday

[TamilNet, Friday, 04 November 2011, 20:42 GMT]
Two weeks back the US President reauthorized GSP trade benefits to Sri Lanka that will come to effect from 5 November 2011. The reauthorisation provides even retroactive benefits from 1 January 2011 so that genocidal Sri Lanka will not suffer any loses by the gap in the absence of GSP benefits this year. Last year, Sri Lanka enjoyed the benefit of Generalised System of Preferences (GSP) for 147 million dollars worth of goods. The US patronage is assured at a time when the diaspora Eezham Tamils in the US campaign to boycott products from genocidal Sri Lanka and the Tamils of Tamil Nadu have passed a unanimous resolution in their State assembly for war crimes investigations and economic sanctions against Sri Lanka. The US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton visited the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalitha after the Assembly passed the resolution.

As the GSP programme was renewed retroactively Sri Lankan exporters will be reimbursed for tariffs paid during the gap period, said a statement issued by the US embassy in Colombo.

Obama signed the reauthorisation on 22 October. The gesture coincided with the invitation to the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) to visit the US by the end of last month, Australia backtracking on a court case against SL President and Ambassador, a ‘fact-finding’ US Congress team visiting Sri Lanka coming out with a clean chit on human rights situation and India shielding any Commonwealth action against Sri Lanka at the CHOGM at Perth.

External Links:

FT.lk:		US extends GSP till end 2013
FT.lk:		US GSP continuity welcomed
Gulf-Times:		US reviewing plea against trade benefit for Lanka