NEWS RELEASES

May 9, 2000 (4:55 p.m. EDT) No. 98

CANADA EXTENDS GENERAL PREFERENTIAL TARIFF

Foreign Affairs Minister Lloyd Axworthy today announced that Canada will extend the General Preferential Tariff (GPT) to Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. An Order-in-Council was adopted on May 4, to enable the extension of the GPT.

"Granting the GPT to Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia will contribute to enhancing Canada's trade and economic links in the Balkan region," said Minister Axworthy. "This demonstrates Canada's support for the Stability Pact for Southeastern Europe, and for the international efforts to build a peaceful and democratic future in that region."

Minister Axworthy discussed this issue with High Representative Wolfgang Petritsch, whose peacebuilding program in Bosnia emphasizes the economic reform agenda as a high priority for the coming months.

Canadian imports of goods from the two countries totalled $16.2 million in 1999.

In 1991, prior to the dissolution of Yugoslavia, Canada had imposed economic sanctions, including the withdrawal of the GPT, on that country. Since then, Canada has granted Slovenia and Croatia, two of the successor states of the former Yugoslavia, GPT treatment of their exports.

The GPT was instituted during the 1970s by most industrialized countries. It is a preferential tariff for imports from developing countries, designed to encourage their economic growth through increased trade.

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