ISLAMABAD: The United Kingdom (UK) has launched a “Developing Countries Trading Scheme” (DCTS), whose implementation in early 2023 will provide tariff reductions and simpler terms of trade to 65 countries, including Pakistan.

The DCTS replaces the UK’s Generalised Scheme of Preferences (GSP), a preferential trading system that provides tariff removals and reductions on various products.

The British High Commission in Islamabad on Wednesday said that 94 per cent of goods exported from Pakistan will be eligible for duty-free access to the UK. Pakistan will save £120 million in tariffs on exports to the UK under the scheme.

Some of the specific goods that will benefit the most from the DCTS in Pakistan include over £250 million in average annual exports to the UK of bed linen and nearly £100m in jeans, both of which will receive a 12pc duty reduction.

Under the new scheme, Pakistan will continue to benefit from duty-free exports to the United Kingdom. UK International Trade Secretary, Anne-Marie Trevelyan, launched the new scheme. The DCTS will remove tariffs on over 156 additional products, and it will also simplify some seasonal tariffs, meaning additional and simpler access for Pakistan’s exports to the UK.

The statistics released by the BHC show that the total trade, including goods and services, between the United Kingdom and Pakistan each year currently stands at £2.9bn.

Published in Dawn, August 18th, 2022