Uzbekistan has officially applied for the status of beneficiary country to the European Union (EU)'s Generalized Scheme of Preferences (GSP) Plus scheme, Uzbekistan's Ministry of Investment and Foreign Trade said, Trend reports citing Xinhua.
The GSP Plus scheme will provide Uzbekistan an opportunity to significantly increase its exports to the EU and raise the competitiveness of its domestic goods in the European market, the ministry said.
The scheme removes import duties from products coming into the EU market from vulnerable developing countries if they assume certain burdens and responsibilities.
Uzbekistan currently enjoys basic benefits from the scheme, but upgrading its status will allow the Central Asian nation to raise the number of commodity items it can export to the EU without import duties from its current amount of 3,000 to 6,000, according to the statement.