The European Commission and the European External Action Service have published a joint staff working document dated 16 July 2026 assessing Bolivia's compliance with the EU's Special Incentive Arrangement for Sustainable Development and Good Governance (GSP+) for the period 2023-2025. The assessment finds that while Bolivia remains formally committed to all 27 international conventions required under GSP+, serious implementation gaps persist in areas such as judicial reform, violence against women, child labour, coca cultivation, and anti-corruption, demanding urgent action to maintain preferential trade access under revised rules expected in 2027.
The document, accompanying the Joint Report on the Generalised Scheme of Preferences covering 2023-2025, notes that Bolivia's GSP+-eligible imports to the EU reached EUR 53.8 million in 2024, with a 91.6% preference utilisation rate and EUR 766,000 in tariff exemptions. On the positive side, Bolivia has made legislative progress: a reparation law for rights violations (Bill 181/2024-2025, promulgated November 2025), a law criminalising grooming and child sexual abuse material (Law No 1636, September 2025), prohibition of child marriage (Law No 1639, September 2025), and a national law on assistance for child victims of femicide (Law No 1680, November 2025). Child labour rates have declined: for ages 12-14 from 25.1% (2021) to 21.5% (2023), and for ages 15-17 from 8.7% to 7.1%.
However, serious concerns remain. The prison population has increased 46% over five years to 32,035 in 2024, with over 58% in pre-trial detention; 81 torture cases and 17 violent prison deaths were recorded. Gender-based violence is rampant: 84 femicides in 2024 and 81 in 2025, with 74.7% of women reporting physical or sexual violence. Coca cultivation area increased 10% to 34,000 hectares (UNODC 2024). Bolivia's GDP growth is estimated at only 0.7% (2024) and 0.6% (2025), while gas exports dropped from 6.7% of GDP (2022) to 2.3% (2025). The country joined MERCOSUR in July 2024, and Rodrigo Paz Pereira was elected president in October 2025.
The EU demands urgent action on judicial reform, violence against women, child and forced labour, coca diversion, and anti-corruption. Failure to address these gaps could jeopardise Bolivia's GSP+ access under the revised scheme expected in 2027, which will impose stricter conditionality. The assessment will feed into the European Parliament and Council's review of the GSP regulation.