U.S. restores Ukraine’s GSP status

U.S. restores Ukraine’s GSP status    The Bush administration has reinstated the Ukraine in its duty-free program for certain imports from developing countries.
   The United States removed Ukraine from the program, known as the Generalized System of Preferences or GSP, in August 2001 after finding extensive pirating of optical media products, such as CDs and DVDs. In 2002, the United States imposed 100 percent tariff sanctions on $75 million worth of Ukranian exports
   In 2005, the Ukrainian government passed legislation to crack down on intellectual property rights violations (IPR).
   “Since the legislation passed, Ukraine has been actively inspecting plants licensed to manufacture optical discs, conducting raids against businesses involved in commercial distribution of IPR-infringing products, and imposing fines against infringers,” said U.S. Trade Representative Rob Portman in a Jan. 23 statement.
   According to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, Ukrainian exports to the United States that could benefit the most from Ukraine’s restored GSP eligibility include manufactured items such as iron or steel articles, electrical and railway products, snow skis, protein products such as casein, and certain minerals and metal products.