ARMENIA AND THE EU’s GSP

Economic Impact

Armenia's economy can be considered vulnerable and is, with a score of 0.2%, considerably below the threshold of 7.4%. Armenia's economy is mostly concentrated on a small bandwidth of products. The country's diversification percentage stands at 98.2% with the minimum diversification threshold standing at 75%.

Over the years, the preference utilisation rate has shown considerable fluctuations. The rate dropped by 10 percentage points between 2011 and 2015 and shows another slump in 2018. Overall, Armenia makes comparatively high use of the preferential tariffs granted under the GSP+, with an average of 92% (2011-2018) of eligible imports being imported at reduced rates. Looking at individual product sections, Armenia makes good use of preferences for its dominant import groups like base metals and food and beverages. Overall, imports under the GSP have decreased quite substantially between 2016-2018. However, this can be attributed to a substantial share of confidential EU imports from Armenia which are not part of this statistic.

The largest product sections under the GSP+

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT AND MONITORING PRIORITIES

Armenia ratified 27 core conventions on human rights, labour rights, environmental protection, and good governance. The Velvet Revolution in 2018 set of a number of democratic changes and commitments by the new government to strengthen the situation related to human rights and good governance. First legislative initiatives were taken to implement some of these commitments, including for example improvements related to the freedom of assembly and gender equality. The actual results of the regime transition with regard to international values remain to be seen.

Monitoring priorities during the reporting period 2018-2019

For the reporting period 2018-2019, the EU has identified five focus areas for its monitoring activities in Armenia. The new government which followed the Velvet Revolution in 2018 is committed to human rights and good governance and has initiated legislative procedures to strengthen the effective implementation of relevant conventions.

1. HUMAN RIGHTS

Armenia maintains a high level of ratification of international human rights conventions and has ratified or signed all ten fundamental UN conventions, of which seven are covered under the GSP+ regulation. Notable progress has been made in ensuring freedom of assembly and in strengthening legislation on domestic violence and gender equality. In addition, Armenia is in the process of adopting a new Criminal Code and an anti-discrimination law and has passed a new Judicial Code in 2018. These legislative efforts aim to improve the independence and accountability of the judiciary and address reports of harassment and hate speech against the LGBTQI community.

Ratified

• Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (1948)
• International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (1969)
• International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (1976)
• International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (1976)
• Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (1981)
• Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (1987)
• Convention on the Rights of the Child (1990)

2. LABOUR RIGHTS

Armenia has ratified all eight fundamental labour rights conventions which are required by GSP+ and has additionally ratified three of the four ILO priority conventions. These include the Labour Inspection Convention, the Employment Policy Convention, and the Tripartite Consultation Convention. The government has taken steps to improve the effective implementation of these conventions, for example by establishing a labour inspection system and initiating the revision of the Labour Code. The revision includes an official prohibition of discrimination, although a stand-alone law on discrimination is still pending. Despite these efforts, concerns remain in the area of child labour, where existing legislation remains insufficient.

Ratified

• Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention, 1948 (No. 87) 
• Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention, 1949 (No. 98) 
•  Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (No. 29)  (and its 2014 Protocol )
• Abolition of Forced Labour Convention, 1957 (No. 105) 
• Minimum Age Convention, 1973 (No. 138) 
• Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, 1999 (No. 182) 
• Equal Remuneration Convention, 1951 (No. 100) 
• Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention, 1958 (No. 111) 

3. ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION

Armenia has ratified all environmental protection conventions covered under GSP+ and shows additional commitment through the ratification of the Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol and the Paris Agreement as well as the acceptance of the Doha Amendment. However, the effective implementation as well as the alignment of national legislation with the provisions under the conventions remains a challenge. Progress has been noted regarding the effective implementation on the convention on illegal wildlife trade (CITES), although penalties for violations remain rather low. In order to protect the country's biodiversity, the government has set up protected areas which cover about 70% of the country's flora and fauna. In addition, laws have been passed that regulate chemicals and genetically modified organisms.

Ratified

• Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (1973)
• Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer (1987)
• Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal (1989)
• Convention on Biological Diversity (1992)
• United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (1992)
• Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety (2000)
• Stockholm Convention on persistent Organic Pollutants (2001)
• Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (1998)

4. GOOD GOVERNANCE

Armenia cooperates closely with international bodies on drug control and was able to seize increasing amounts of cannabis, cocaine, opium, and methamphetamine which mainly originate from Iran. The new government is strongly committed to tackling corruption and has recently introduced measures to address corruption in the judiciary and established a platform for whistle-blowers.

Ratified

• United Nations Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs (1961)
• United Nations Convention on Psychotropic Substances (1971)
• United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (1988)
• United Nations Convention against Corruption