|
NEW DELHI, Jan 16 (PTI): Negotiations for BIMSTEC Free Trade Area have hit a roadblock following disagreement on contentious Rules of Origin (RoO) issue.
The disagreement with regard to the RoO came to the fore with negotaitors from member countries proposing different criterion at the last meeting of the Committee of Experts for Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multisectoral Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC).
The CoE is expected to meet again by month end to take up the issue as the deadline for BIMSTEC FTA is July One.
While India wants 40 per cent value addition and Change in Tariff Heading criterion, Thailand with whom India already has a FTA is in favour of a 35 per cent value addition norm without change in tariff heading, prevalent in ASEAN, sources told the news agency.
Bangladesh is in favour of the twin criterion as used under the SAFTA.
Under South Asian Free Trade Area, the twin criteria of change in tariff heading at four digit level and value addition of 40 per cent for Non-Least Developed Countries and 30 per cent for LDCs has been accepted.
Rules of Origin include a set of rules which govern origin of products in a country and stringent rules prevent any third country to use FTA route to dump its products.
Domestic industry is in favour of very strict RoO and cite the example of rise in copper imports from Sri Lanka which does not produce the metal, under the Indo-Sri Lanka FTA mainly due to diversion from a third country.
BIMSTEC FTA initially will cover only products, but after 2007 services and investment will come under its purview.
It would be implemented in two phases with developing country members and Least Developed Country members getting some grace period.
In the first phase, described as the first track, the three developing countries (India, Thailand and Sri Lanka) will give free access to goods from LDCs between July one, 2006 and July one, 2007.
In the second phase or the normal track, the three developing nations will give free access to most of the goods from July one, 2010.
|