Proposal for a Council Decision establishing the position to be taken on behalf of the European Union within the General Council of the World Trade Organization on the United States’ request for a WTO waiver to permit the US to provide preferential treatment to eligible products originating in Nepal

The granting of the United States' request for a WTO waiver would allow the US to provide preferential treatment to eligible products originating in Nepal and imported into the customs territory of the United States until 31 December 2025.

According to the United States, these preferences are provided to assist Nepal in its recovery from a devastating earthquake and aftershocks in April 2015. The US explain that this measure builds on an existing framework of programs intended to assist Nepal's economic development and will complement the efforts to promote growth and development in Nepal.

This new waiver request submitted by the US does not pose any economic concerns to the European Union since the preferential treatment is not expected to adversely impact the EU trade with the beneficiary country. In light of these considerations, the European Union should join the emerging consensus in favour of the waiver request in the WTO General Council.

EUR-Lex: COM(2016)614: Follow the progress of this proposal through the decision-making procedure http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/HIS/?uri=COM:2016:614:FIN

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