President Mahinda Rajapaksa met representatives of the Joint Apparel Associations Federation (JAAF) last Thursday to brief them on what the government was doing to secure an extension of GSP+ and the challenges the government was facing in this regard, the government Media Centre said.
He had said that the written submission which has to be delivered to the EU headquarters at Brussels before October 31 this year was being prepared.
The ministries of Export Development and International Trade, Foreign Affairs, Justice, Human Rights, Environment and Labour together with the Attorney General’s Department were meeting regularly to develop the content of the submission.
"The noteworthy achievement of the apparel sector, which had won recognition in this country as well as internationally, should be taken into account as a crucial component of Sri Lanka's case," the President had said
"As far as other criteria are concerned, evidence relating to ratification and implementation of 27 International conventions is being prepared and will be presented," he said.
The Government, for its part, the President had assured them, would do everything appropriate to secure GSP+ benefits while upholding the country's sovereignty and dignity.
"A great deal of work is continuing in earnest to achieve this, However," the President stressed, "The industry should make all efforts to strengthen its own capability in a spirit of self-reliance, since dependence on GSP+ benefits for an indefinite period will not serve the interest of either the industry or the country."
During the meeting the President had shown the JAAF delegation a letter dated 07 March 2008 sent by the Leader of the Opposition addressed to Ms Benita Ferrero-Waldener, Commissioner of European Commission for External Relations, that the apparel industry had requested the government to change the Constitution.
The Opposition Leader’s letter had said that the UNP had decided to support a proposal made to the government by the apparel industry to amend the 1978 Constitution in order that the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the First Optional Protocol to the Covenant be incorporated into the Constitution.
In a recent case before the Supreme Court, the UNP said, the Court ruled that the ICCPR had no legal effect in the country since the rights outlined in the ICCPR had not been given statutory status, a ruling the Supreme Court subsequently withdrew as the ratification of the convention in 1980 (and the ratification of the First Optional Protocol in 1997) by Sri Lanka meant that no domestic legislation is necessary to give effect to ICCPR.
The UNP wrote to the EU saying that although the government passed a law in 2007 with regard to ICCPR it was inadequate as many provisions had been omitted and said that the Constitution needed to be amended.
The President, in the presence of Professor G. L. Peiris, Minister of Export Development and International Trade, Attorney General C. R. D. Silva, Central Bank Governor Mr. Ajith Nivard Cabraal, Secretary of Defence Ministry of Gotabhaya Rajapaksa and Secretary to the President Lalith Weerathunga, asked the JAAF delegation whether they had indeed made such a recommendation to the government, to which they replied in the negative, the Department of Government Information said.
The President admonished the UNP for making matters worse for the country’s case for an extension of GSP+ and said that JAAF had a duty to make their own effort to combat such adverse propaganda of this nature.
