(4)With effect from 1 January 2015, Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) No 1421/2013note removed China, Ecuador, the Maldives and Thailand from the list of GSP beneficiary countries listed in Annex II to Regulation (EU) No 978/2012. Due to the substantial share of GSP imports represented by the abovementioned countries, their removal from the list of beneficiaries necessitates the amendment of the vulnerability threshold.