(1)

Article 9(1) of Regulation (EU) No 978/2012 establishes specific eligibility criteria for the granting of tariff preferences under the special incentive arrangement for sustainable development and good governance (‘GSP+’) to a requesting country. For that purpose, the country should be considered vulnerable. It should have ratified all the conventions listed in Annex VIII to Regulation (EU) No 978/2012 and the most recent available conclusions of the relevant monitoring bodies should not identify a serious failure to effectively implement any of those conventions. In relation to any of the relevant conventions, the country should not have formulated a reservation which is prohibited by the convention or which, for the exclusive purposes of Article 9 of Regulation (EU) No 978/2012, is considered to be incompatible with the object and purpose of that convention. It should accept without reservation the reporting requirements imposed by each convention and give the binding undertakings referred to in points (d), (e) and (f) of Article 9(1) of Regulation (EU) No 978/2012.

(2)

A GSP beneficiary country wishing to benefit from GSP+ has to submit a request accompanied by comprehensive information concerning ratification of the relevant conventions, its reservations and the objections to those reservations made by other parties to the convention, and its binding undertakings.

(3)

On 9 June 2020, the Commission received a GSP+ request from the Republic of Uzbekistan.

(4)

The Commission has examined the request and has established that the Republic of Uzbekistan meets the eligibility criteria laid down in Article 9(1) of Regulation (EU) No 978/2012. The Republic of Uzbekistan should therefore be granted GSP+ and Annex III to Regulation (EU) No 978/2012 should be amended accordingly.

(5)

The Commission will keep under review the status of ratification of the relevant conventions and their effective implementation by the Republic of Uzbekistan, as well as the Republic of Uzbekistan’s cooperation with the relevant monitoring bodies, in accordance with Article 13 of Regulation (EU) No 978/2012,