SAARC subgroup to look into export barriers

DHAKA: Experts from SAARC countries decided to liberalise regional trade under the SAFTA agreement in a more time-bound manner as they sat for their first committee meeting in the city this week.

The SAFTA Committee of Experts (SCOE) also formed a subgroup, drawing members from the Committee, to identify non-tariff and para-tariff barriers the member nations would face from one another in conducting free trade, said the leader of Bangladesh delegation to the meeting.

The SCOE meeting began Tuesday morning with a call for setting ground to make the deal on South Asian Free Trade Area operational and take it to the level of greater economic integration in the region. SAFTA Ministerial Council (SMC) of Commerce Ministers meets on Thursday to consider and endorse the recommendations from the SCOE's two-day meeting.

The SMC would also consider, as decided on the first day, whether they would meet once a year to monitor the implementation status of SAFTA and its further improvements.

On the rules of procedure for the SCOE, the meeting also decided to hold SCOE meeting half-yearly while that of the subgroup on NTBs and PTBs more frequently. The subgroup was working out a roadmap in this regard Tuesday night and would submit a proposal at second day's meeting of the SCOE today (Wednesday).

The meeting also reviewed the possibilities of further reducing the respective sensitive lists constantly from the ones they agreed upon in the SAFTA agreement.

The meeting decided to adopt specific cut-off dates and rates of tariff concessions, said the Bangladesh delegation leader, AKM Fazlur Rahman, who is a deputy secretary of the Ministry of Commerce.

He said the roadmap for the second and third cuts of the tariffs under the Trade Liberalisation Programme (TLP) would be decided on the second day of the two-day SCOE meeting so that it can submit the proposals to the SMC Thursday.

The first cut would be effective from July this year as per the SAFTA agreement, which did not have specific programme for tariff cutbacks. Now we will take decision when and to what extent the member-countries will reduce their tariffs, said the official, adding that the tariff-cut plans have not been specified in the agreement.

As per the SAFTA agreement, the tariff reduction by the Non-LDC members from their existing tariff rates to 20 per cent should be done within a timeframe of 2 years, from the date of coming into force of the agreement.

They were encouraged to adopt reductions in equal annual instalments. If actual tariff rates after the coming into force of the agreement are below 20%, there should be an annual reduction on a Margin of Preference basis of 10% on actual tariff rates for each of the two years.