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EU Commission seeks end to Burma ag (r)



Subject: EU Commission seeks end to Burma agriculture GSP  

	Subject: EU Commission seeks end to Burma agriculture GSP

 	(Adds background, details)
    	BRUSSELS, Feb 18 (Reuter) - The European Union may decide as
	early as Monday to withdraw special trading privileges from
	Burma's agricultural products.
    	
	Diplomatic sources said EU Foreign Ministers meeting in
	Brussels on Monday will discuss a European Commission proposal
	made on Tuesday to strip Burma of Generalised System of
	Preferences (GSP) benefits on agricultural products.
    
	The move comes amid growing unease over Rangoon's human
	rights record.
    
	The Commission said in a statement on Tuesday that it would
	ask the foreign ministers to revoke Burma's GSP following an
	investigation into Burmese labour practices.
    
	The investigation follows complaints from international and
	European trade union groups that Burma was using forced and
	child labour to boost its exports.
    
	The Commission said Burma refused to cooperate with the
	Commission during the investigation.
    	In December, the European Commission scrapped Burma's
	industrial GSP privileges for the same reason.
    
	The latest move comes less than a week after EU foreign
	ministers agonised with their Association of Southeast Asian
	Nations counterparts over the best way to bring Burma back into
	the international community.
    
	The EU, which favours isolating Rangoon, was warned by ASEAN
	ministers that it had no say in whether Burma would be made a
	member of the Asian group.
REUTER
1205 180297 GMT