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Commerce ministers from seven SAARC members are convening in Dhaka April 20 to review and finalise the South Asia Free Trade Area (SAFTA) implementation plan, which was finalised last year by the technical experts last year.
The liberalisation and other SAFTA enforcement programmes were worked out by the joint-secretary level committee of experts. Although all member governments have already ratified the deal, its review from the higher level remains due so far, SAARC secretariat sources said.
The SAFTA Council of Ministers (SCM) is the apex body entrusted for overseeing SAFTA operations. It has been assigned to administrate and implement SAFTA agreement and other decisions made within its framework. SAARC members have agreed to hold SCM at least once a year, with each member country chairing the body for a period of a year on rotational basis in alphabetical order.
Ministry for Trade Industry and supply officials informed that two-day meeting of the technical experts will be held from April 18 to consolidate and finalise the action plan of respective member countries for discussion in the ministerial-level meeting.
The SAFTA agreement has devised the technical body, Committee of Experts (CoE), as a permanent body to support the SCM. It has been assigned with a task of monitoring, reviewing and facilitating SAFTA implementation besides undertaking tasks as assigned by the SCM.
"The CoE will also function as a dispute settlement body for the regional free trade area," reads the SAFTA accord.
Under the agreed SAFTA enforcement plan, six SAARC members - including India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Sri Lanka and the Maldives - would be starting tariff liberalisation programme from July 1 this year. For Nepal, the date has been agreed for August 1.
Under the tariff liberalisation programme, the members will have to reduce tariffs bringing it down to zero to 5.0 per cent in two phases - one for least developed countries (LDCs) and the other for developing members.
In the first phase, developing countries including India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka will reduce tariff to zero to five percent for four LDCs - Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan and the Maldives - within 2009.
Likewise, India and Pakistan will further reduce tariffs for each other and also for Sri Lanka within seven years of enforcement of tariff liberalization program. Sri Lanka has been pledged additional 1 year to complete it.
For LDCs, the tariff liberalisation period is 10 years. That means members will have to reduce tariffs to zero to five per cent by 2016 in all the items except for those included in sensitive lists.
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