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          The cabinet committee is likely to ratify the South Asian Free Trade Area (SAFTA) tomorrow (Monday) to pave the way for enforcement of the treaty by January 1, 2006.
"We have already sent the proposal to the cabinet committee for ratifying the pact. A meeting of the cabinet committee is due tomorrow (Monday)," said a senior commerce ministry official.
However, the treaty will come into full force from July 1, 2006 under a decision taken at the 12th experts committee meeting, held Kathmandu, Nepal November 29-December 1.
The ratification of the first ever trade pact among the seven South Asian nations was agreed upon by the leaders of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) during the 13th summit on November 12-13 in Dhaka this year.
The experts committee meeting, however, decided to complete the internal procedures of each member country by December 31 to address the issues like non-tariff barriers and technical assistance, which are integral parts of the SAFTA.
Like Bangladesh, other South Asian countries will have to ratify the treaty by the end of this year so that the official declaration on enforcement of the SAFTA is fulfilled.
Ratification of the pact will be sent to the SAARC secretariat, which will take further measures to sort out technical matters by next July, the official added.
The seven members of the regional forum--Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Nepal Bhutan and the Maldives-- signed the SAFTA January 6, 2004 in Islamabad for establishing a free trade area in this part of the world.
According to the SAFTA charter, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan and the Maldives, which are enjoying the least developed country status, will lower their tariff on imports from a level between 0 and 5 per cent by 2016.
The other members -- India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka - that hold the status of a developing country will do the same by 2010.
Bangladesh settled 1,250 items in its sensitive list for the LDCs, and 1,254 for the developing countries during the 12th experts committee meeting, sources said.
On revenue compensation issue, India and Pakistan have agreed to give compensation to four least developed countries (LDCs). However, they will not compensate for any trade which is diverted from other countries to SAFTA member countries.
The experts committee meeting also decided that trade ministers of the SAARC countries would be members of the council, which will meet in next May in Dhaka to monitor the development of the internal mechanism, the sources added.
Trade experts observed that Bangladesh's import from countries like China, Thailand and Malaysia would decline and import from India would rise under the SAFTA regime because of the lower level of customs duty.
On the other hand, export of readymade garments and leather products from Bangladesh to India and Pakistan may increase under the rules of origin criteria, the modality of which is yet to be disclosed officially.