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Whereas it is laid down in Article 6 of Regulations (EC) No 3281/94 and (EC) No 1256/96 that the most advanced beneficiary countries shall be excluded from entitlement under those Regulations from 1 January 1998 on the basis of objective, clearly defined criteria; Whereas the reference threshold for excluding the most advanced countries shuld be a per capita income equal to the lowest in an EU Member State, adjusted by reference to the developmnent index listed in Part 2 of Annex II to Regulations (EC) No 3281/94 and (EC) No 1256/96 in order to allow for the fact that some countries need to develop their exports of manufactures; Whereas this approach is objective and clear in that it includes the indicator which is the least controversial and the most representative of the current state of affairs in the beneficiary countries, while at the same time making it possible to maintain one of the objectives of the GSP, namely diversification of the beneficiary countries' exports;

Whereas excluding some countries from benefiting from generalized tariff preferences must not have the effect of depriving members of the reigional groupings, of which the excluded countries are also members, from the advantages which they previously obtained through using in their own manufacturing, within the context of regional cumulation, products originating in the said excluded countries; whereas terminating this facility would run counter to the objective of Article 6 of the said Regulations, which is to redistribute the benefits of the system to less developed countries, HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION: