South Asian nations asked to join forces for fair trade
ISLAMABAD, Sept 12: Trade experts said here on Monday that South Asian countries stand to gain by joining forces to fight for fair trade deals that provided a level-playing field to the regional countries in the multilateral trading system.
They were speaking at a workshop “WTO Doha round and South Asia” organized by the Pakistan Institute of Development Economics (PIDE).
The workshop aimed to establish linkages between civil society organizations and research institutions while conducting advocacy with government and inter-government organizations.
In his presentation, Director PIDE Dr A.R. Kemal said the tariff reduction formula should be based only on bound rates - the limit beyond which customs duty could not be increased - and not on applied rates - the current customs duty on which imported goods are cleared.
He proposed to link the adoption of tariff reduction formula with concrete, time-bound progress on eliminating non-tariff barriers. Reduction in tariff escalation would promote value addition, he argued.
An equitable tariff reduction formula should be finalized keeping in view the concern and interest of the developing countries in the negotiations on non-agriculture market access (NAMA). He said South Asian countries should resist the proposal of sectoral elimination.
Mr Kemal proposed that South Asian countries adopt an approach that resulted in securing maximum reduction on products which were of their interest. They should demand substantial reduction in peak tariff which applied to products of export interest to them — textiles, leather products and footwear, etc.—Our Reporter
