The EU Member States on June 23 backed EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson's reform of the EU's Generalised System of Preferences. Agreement by Member States, led by the Luxembourg Presidency, breaks a three-month deadlock in Council that has delayed the adoption of the new preferential access system. The reform of the GSP is designed to make the EU's system of preferential market access for developing countries simpler and fairer. While the new GSP system as a whole will apply from January 1,2006, application of the GSP Plus incentive system, which grants additional preferences to vulnerable developing countries that pursue good governance and sustainable development policies, will be fast tracked to apply from July 1, 2005.
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