November 12, 2002	Tuesday	Ramazan 6, 1423

ISLAMABAD, Nov 11: Pakistan has granted tariff concessions to four Saarc-member countries on more than 400 items under South Asia Preferential Trade Arrangement (SAPTA) to boost trade with these countries, a senior official told Dawn.

The concessions were given to four least developing countries (LDCs) of Saarc — Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan and Maldives — in the fourth round of meeting on SAPTA held in Kathmandu.

A senior official in the Ministry of Commerce requesting anonymity said that these countries, which were not bound to give concession to Pakistan, however, allowed tariff concession on around 142 items to Islamabad. Of these, Nepal gave concession on 43 items; Bhutan on six items; Maldives on 12 items; and Bangladesh on 81 items.

When asked about tariff concession to and from India, the official said that Indian delegation was reluctant to talk about the SAPTA agenda and were asking for MFN status, which the official argued, was not an appropriate forum for raising such demand.

Elaborating further, the official said that Indians were predetermined not to give more concession to Islamabad in the fourth round and were using delaying tactics.

According to the official, during the Committee on Economic Cooperation (CEC) meeting Bangladesh had also criticized India on account of futility of SAPTA because of huge non-tariff barriers by India.

During the SAPTA meeting, the official said, representatives of the member countries deliberated upon removal of structural impediments and harmonization of customs procedures and documentation. The other issues which were discussed for consideration included: banking, port and transportation facilities, setting up of reviewing and monitoring mechanism and consumer equitable benefits to all the member countries, the official added.

During the first round of negotiation under SAPTA, Pakistan granted tariff concessions on 46 items against which Islamabad received concessions on 106 items from other countries, including 44 items from India, while during the second round Pakistan granted total tariff concessions on 351 items, including concessions on 230 items to India, whereas New Delhi granted concessions on 375 items.

In the third round, Islamabad granted tariff concessions on about 286 items to the member countries, said the official.

Further break-up showed that during the first three rounds, the Saarc-member countries have so far given concessions on as many as 4,951 items to each other.

Of these, Bhutan gave concessions on 266 items; India on 2,402 items; Maldives on 390 items; Nepal on 425 items, Pakistan on 685 items; Bangladesh on 572 items; and Sri Lanka on 212 items.

Total trade among the Saarc-member countries during the financial year 2001-02 stood at $470.781 million against $573.789 million in 2000-01, a decrease of 17.95 per cent.