(LANKAPUVATH | COLOMBO) –The UK’s new Developing Countries Trading Scheme (DCTS) that will be launched early next year will benefit Sri Lanka by boosting the economy and supporting jobs, the British High Commissioner to Sri Lanka Sarah Hulton said.
According to the Department for International Trade the new scheme which will replace the UK’s current Generalized Scheme of Preferences (GSP), offers developing countries one of the most generous sets of trading preferences of any country in the world.
Sri Lanka will continue to benefit from duty free exports to the UK on more than 80 percent of products and the DCTS will remove tariffs on over 150 additional products, according to a statement by the High Commissioner Hulton on Twitter.
It will also simplify some seasonal tariffs meaning additional and simpler access for Sri Lanka’s exports to the UK. “The UK looks forward to future trading opportunities with Sri Lanka,” the envoy said.
The DCTS aims to support sustainable growth in developing countries through a more generous unilateral offer, according to the UK’s Department for International Trade.
The DCTS applies to countries that currently benefit under the UK’s GSP.
The DCTS provides duty-free, quota-free trade to 47 Least Developed Countries on everything but arms and duty-free, quota-free trade on 85% of eligible goods to 18 additional countries or territories classified by the World Bank as low income countries (LIC) and lower middle-income countries (LMIC).
