Re-instating the European Union’s generalized system of preferences for Myanmar

Kiyoyasu Tanaka and Kudo Toshihiro

No 813, IDE Discussion Papers from Institute of Developing Economies, Japan External Trade Organization(JETRO)

Abstract: The European Union (EU) suspended the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) for Myanmar in 1997 for a systematic violation of human rights, but re-instated it in 2013 following domestic reforms in Myanmar. By examining a political background of the EU’s re-instatement, we highlights a key role of President Thein Sein in the newly established “democratic” government for 2011 and Myanmar’s international relations with the U.S. and the EU. This paper also estimates the impact of duty-free access on Myanmar’s exports by exploiting a unique feature of the GSP re-instatement in which tariff cuts correspond to the MFN tariff rates in EU markets. The results show that the GSP re-instatement has a significantly large positive effect on Myanmar’s exports, with a pronounced impact on garment exports. Thus, democratic reforms in Myanmar improved political relations with the EU to promote industrial development.

Keywords: Democracy; human rights; GSP; trade; Myanmar (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: F14 F63 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021-03
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Published in IDE Discussion Paper = IDE Discussion Paper, No. 813. 2021-03

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