Government again fails to meet GSP conditions

The country has once again failed to fulfil the required conditions for reinstatement of GSP status to the US markets within the deadline of April 15, mainly due to bureaucratic tangles. The Commerce ministry is now set to submit a report which does not contain any account of substantial progress with respect to the 16-point action plan provided by the US for regaining the generalised system of preferences. This is the second time that the government has failed to make an impression on the Obama administration. The first progress report submitted in November last year disappointed the US so much that the second deadline of April 15 was set, a month ahead of Obama Administration's review of the suspension decision. One of the major conditions was to recruit additional 200 factory inspectors by this deadline, but, so far, the labour and employment ministry has taken only 25 first-class inspectors through the Public Service Commission (PSC).