ISLAMABAD, Jan 1: The Saarc-member countries are to hold a fourth round of meeting on South Asia Preferential Trade Arrangement (SAPTA) later this month to accelerate free-trade among its members.

The two-day meeting scheduled for January 27 and 28 in Kathmandu would discuss tariff concession on more items to boost trade among the member countries, a senior official told Dawn on Tuesday.

It would be followed by another meeting on January 29 at the same venue to discuss the realization of South Asia Free Trade Area (SAFTA) as a goal latest by 2005, the source added.

During the January 29 meeting representatives of the member countries would deliberate upon tariff elimination without any import restriction, removal of structural impediments and harmonization of customs procedures and documentation.

Also to be discussed would be banking, port and transportation facilities, setting up of reviewing and monitoring mechanism and consumer equitable benefits to all the member countries.

They would also discuss arrangements of shifting to SAFTA from SAPTA through all three approaches — product by product, sectoral basis and across-the-board basis.

Elaborating further, the official said that preferences would also cover products, which are being actually traded amongst member states.

He, however, said that steps towards liberalization must be taken into account the special needs of the smaller and least developed countries and the benefits must secure equally.

In the first round of negotiation under SAPTA, Pakistan granted tariff concession on 35 items against which Islamabad received concession on 106 items from other countries, including 44 items from India, while during the second round of negotiation Pakistan granted tariff concession to India on 230 items whereas India granted concession on 375 items.

The third meeting considered 18 items for further deepening of tariff cuts and removal of non-tariff barriers and structural impediments to trade among Saarc countries.

Pakistan has granted tariff concession ranging between 10 and 15 per cent on items, which are mostly agricultural products and industrial raw material, while it received concession on many value-added items.

Pakistan has granted concession on 363 items and would receive preference on over 646 items. It may be added that the council of ministers of Saarc, in its 12th session, signed the framework agreement on SAPTA on April 11, 1993, which was approved at New Delhi summit in May 1995 and came into force on December 7, 1995.