The European Commission plans to reshapes its import preferences on those developing countries most in need. It will limit its Generalised System of Preferences (GSP), with which it grants specific tariff preferences to developing countries in the form of reduced or zero tariff rates or quotas.

In 2009, imports that received GSP preferences were worth €60 billion, which represents 4% of total EU imports and 9.3% of the total EU imports from developing countries. Under the revised scheme, imports that will receive GSP preferences are estimated at €37.7 billion.

Key elements of the proposal include:

• Concentrating GSP preferences on fewer countries. Countries which have achieved a high or upper middle income per capita, according to the internationally accepted World Bank classification will no longer be beneficiaries of GSP preferences. Countries that have preferential access to the EU which is at least as good as under GSP, for example, under a Free Trade Agreement. A number of overseas countries and territories which have an alternative market access arrangement for developed markets.
• Reinforcing the incentives for the respect of core human and labour rights, environmental and good governance standards through trade by facilitating access to the GSP+ scheme which grants additional, mostly duty-free preference to vulnerable countries. The vulnerability criterion and commit to effective and full cooperation with international organisations regarding the respect of international conventionsthe are the two economic conditions a country needs to fulfil in order to be eligible for GSP+.
• The "Everything but Arms" (EBA) scheme: Strengthen the effectiveness of the trade concessions for Least Developed Countries (LDCs). Reducing GSP to fewer beneficiaries will reduce competitive pressure and make the preferences for LDCs more meaningful.
• Increasing predictability, transparency and stability. The system will become open-ended, while it is currently subject to review every three years. This will make it easier and more attractive for EU importers to purchase from GSP beneficiary countries. In addition, procedures will become even more transparent, with clear, better defined legal principles and objective criteria.

The GSP scheme is implemented over cycles of ten years in order to take into account changing trade patterns. The present cycle began in 2006 and will expire in 2015. The current GSP scheme is established by Council Regulation (EC) No 732/2008, which entered into force on 1 January 2009 and will expire on 31 December 2011. The Commission has put forward a "roll-over" Regulation, extending the present system until the end of 2013, to avoid GSP lapsing while the institutions discuss the new GSP proposal. The "roll-over" Regulation was approved by the European Parliament on 24 March 2011, by the Council on 14 April and should be published in May.