GSP plus status: EU mission reviews Punjab's steps.

LAHORE -- The European Union's monitoring mission, which is in Pakistan currently to assess the country's eligibility for Generalised System of Preference (GSP) plus extension, reviewed the steps taken by the Punjab government in nine priority area including human rights, child labour, labour rights and environment protection, here on Friday.

During a meeting at the Civil Secretariat, Chief Secretary Punjab Kamran Ali Afzal briefed the mission about the initiatives taken by the provincial government in the priority areas. He said Pakistan attaches great importance to its partnership with the European Union. He said that the GSP Plus status is very beneficial for the economy of Pakistan and after getting the status in 2014, Pakistani products got easy access to European markets.

The chief secretary told the mission that the federal and provincial governments were ensuring the enforcement of relevant laws for implementation of international conventions, and reforms are underway in the areas of human rights, labour rights, environment and others. He said that a modern system had been devised for labour inspections with the help of information technology. He said that concrete steps were being taken to eradicate child labour, and a...