This is a communication from the Trade Directorate-General of the European Commission
The European Commission has proposed opening its markets to all goods except arms from the world's poorest countries. Its proposal to the Council of Ministers would grant duty-free, quota-free access for products from the 48 Least Developed Countries.
Welcoming the proposal, Trade Commissioner Pascal Lamy said: There's been plenty of talk about how important it is to give poor countries access to our markets to tackle their marginalisation in the globalising economy. Now it's time to act. I hope the Council and the Parliament can adopt this proposal swiftly - and that other developed countries follow suit.
The plan would mean going beyond all previous Community commitments by extending duty- and quota-free access for 919 tariff lines. For bananas, sugar and rice, implementation would take place in stages. The proposal leaves out only 25 lines, related to the arms trade.
European Commission, Trade DG, Information Unit Email: eis@dg1.cec.be WWW: http://europa.eu.int/comm/trade Fax: +32-2-296-9854:
