EU imports of goods under preferential tariff access for developing countries totalled almost €60 billion in 2024.
The figure comes from a new joint report by the European Commission and the EU’s High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy released on Thursday.
The report covers how the EU’s Generalised Scheme of Preferences (GSP) operated in 2023–2025, describing it as the bloc’s main trade policy tool to support exports from developing countries by offering low or no import duties, the European Commission said.
Partner countries received preferential tariff treatment that translated into an estimated €5 billion in duty savings.
Least-developed countries received more than €3 billion of that total through the Everything But Arms (EBA) arrangement, which offers duty-free, quota-free access to the EU for all goods except weapons.
Bangladesh, India and Pakistan were the largest beneficiaries of the scheme, while clothing was the biggest sector, accounting for 59% of all trade using GSP preferences, the report said.
Monitoring rights, labour and the environment
The EU links access to some of its preferential tariffs to compliance with international standards on areas including human rights, labour rights, environmental and climate issues, and governance measures such as anti-corruption, according to the Commission.
The document says GSP beneficiary countries generally made progress towards meeting those standards during the period covered, including changes to human rights legislation and institutions in many GSP+ countries — a scheme that offers extra trade preferences in return for implementing international conventions.
Most GSP+ countries also showed progress on labour rights, and many strengthened laws on biodiversity and protected areas, while improvements on drug control and anti-corruption were reported in some countries.
The report also flagged ongoing issues, including concerns over insufficient judicial independence and limited access to remedy and accountability for violations and abuses, as well as uneven enforcement of labour rights and capacity constraints for labour inspectorates.
The report is accompanied by country-by-country documents covering the eight current GSP+ beneficiaries — Bolivia, Cabo Verde, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Pakistan, the Philippines, Sri Lanka and Uzbekistan — and one document covering Bangladesh, Cambodia and Myanmar under “enhanced engagement” within the EBA framework.
A new GSP Regulation for 2027–2036 was adopted on 17 June 2026 and will apply from 1 January 2027, after being published in the Official Journal on 22 June 2026.
