The government has officially announced the cancellation of the disputed GSP certificates. Having hailed the government earlier in this column for showing the kind of courage and farsightedness it takes to deal with a delicate situation like this . we now urge the government to show similar resolve and vision in managing the fall out of a stern remedial measure.

There is no denying that the scrapping of the GSP certificates, irrespective of their automatic justification, will have its repercussions. Because all said and done, this will result in huge financial setback for those robbed of the preferential privilege. albeit due to their own fault.

Smarting as they must be under the financial Impact of the punitive measure, these sufferers' are not likely to see the government compulsion behind the decision. Unrepentant, they will engage in a smear, may be hostile campaign against the government and will, expectedly, find sympathisers in the opposition. One can only keep one's fingers crossea that in their zeal to criticise the government, the opposition will not get carried away on this issue and stay focused on the reality: that these people tampered with the international business rules and paid the price.

What this snafu actually calls for is a careful , sincere and unprejudiced repairing job in order to help our garments industry make light of this undesirable reality. It is important that we learn the palpable moral of this GSP problem and the cloud our prospect in shrimp export seems to have gone under. It is easy to get away with irregularity for a while but the penchant for quick profit through breach of contract or corruption does not pay in the long run. Not only it makes the party at fault to undergo financial losses but also tarnishes the Image of the country immeasurably. Besides, it takes years to build trust which a moment's temptation can destroy beyond repair.

Let this lesson contribute to the maturation of our growing export industry .