THE ROLE OF GSP+ AS AN EXTERNAL COMMITMENT MECHANISM FOR DOMESTIC ECONOMIC REFORMS IN UZBEKISTAN

• Humoyun Mirzo Sharifjonov

  Author

Trade preferences are unilateral tariff concessions granted by developed economies to developing ones. This article asks what the Generalised System of Preferences has actually delivered for Uzbekistan since the country entered the European Union’s GSP+ arrangement in 2021. It argues that the value of these schemes has come less from the tariff saving, which is modest, than from the conditionality attached to them, which functioned as an external commitment device and made domestic reform credible to buyers worldwide. The clearest evidence lies outside tariff data: the elimination of systemic forced labour in the cotton harvest, verified by the International Labour Organization, ended a boycott supported by 331 international brands and reopened global markets that no tariff concession could have opened on its own. At the same time, preferences have not diversified the export basket, which remains concentrated in chemicals and textiles. With the current EU regulation expiring in 2027, the article concludes that the binding constraint on Uzbek exports is domestic productive capability rather than market access.

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