PART 9Suspension of a country from the GSP or suspension or variation of GSP rates
Further conditions for GSPI1I221
1
Subject to paragraph (3), paragraph (2) sets out circumstances in which the Secretary of State may publish a —
a
suspension notice to—
i
suspend a qualifying GSP country from the GSP; or
ii
suspend the GSP rate on specified GSP goods originating from a qualifying GSP country; or
b
variation notice to vary the GSP rate on specified goods originating from a specified country.
2
The circumstances are that a qualifying GSP country—
a
has engaged or is engaging in serious and systematic violations of the human rights and labour rights contained in conventions specified in Part 1 of Schedule 2;
b
is engaging in unfair trading practices, after a determination by a competent WTO body that those practices are prohibited or actionable under the WTO Agreement;
c
is engaging in export of goods made by prison labour;
d
has serious shortcomings in its customs controls on the export or transit of the substances controlled under—
i
the UN Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs (1961) as amended by the 1972 Protocol M1;
ii
the UN Convention on Psychotropic Substances (1971) M2; or
iii
the UN Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (1988) M3;
e
has engaged or is engaging in serious and systematic violations of the principles of international conventions on anti-terrorism and money laundering to which the United Kingdom is a party;
f
is seriously and systematically infringing the requirements imposed by regional fishery management organisations or international arrangements to which the United Kingdom is a party, concerning the conservation and management of fishery resources; or
g
is seriously and systematically failing to comply with the conditions specified in a customs cooperation notice.
3
The Secretary of State must follow the warning and assessment procedure specified in and provided for by regulation 26, before publishing a notice under paragraph (1).
4
In these Regulations—
“WTO body” means a body established under the WTO Agreement; and
“WTO Agreement” means the Agreement Establishing the World Trade Organization, signed at Marrakesh on 15th April 1994 M4.