The European Union (EU) has welcomed the outcome of bilateral trade talks between India and Pakistan, saying it was very positive that India had decided to withdraw the objections to the World Trade Organisation waiver (WTO) sought by the EU to grant duty free access to certain goods from Pakistan to the EU market.

In a statement issued by the EU office here in Islamabad the head of the European Union delegation to Pakistan, Ambassador Lars-Gunnar Wigemark, said the decision was also relevant in the wake of recent floods in the provinces of Sindh and Balochistan.

The WTO waiver was originally sought by the EU for unilateral trade concessions for Pakistan to provide relief after the devastating floods of 2010. The selected 75 products represent almost Ä900 million worth of Pakistani exports to the EU, accounting for about 27% of EU imports from Pakistan, which last year totaled Ä3.3 billion.

Liberalising these 75 tariff lines, of which one product line (ethanol) would be subject to an annual tariff rate quota of 80,000 tons based on past imports, would result in an estimated increase in EU imports from Pakistan of around Ä100 million per year compared to 2009 statistics. The EU will receive nearly Ä80 million less in tariff revenues as a result of these trade concessions. .

The EU is Pakistan’s largest trade partner with an annual trade volume of Ä7.6 billion. The trade balance is already in favour of Pakistan whose main export items to the EU are textiles and clothing products.