KARACHI, Sept 5: The Saarc Regional Coordination Board has been established to devise plan to harmonise standards and conformity assessment procedures in the region in food and agricultural products, electronics, telecom and IT, jute, textile, leather and building materials.

The structure and procedures would be guided by the ISO norms. The board would provide physical and institutional infrastructure to improve position of Saarc countries towards internationally recognised standards and conformity assessment services.

According to the Pakistan Standard and Quality Control Authority (PSQCA) here on Tuesday, the decision was taken at a recent meeting of Saarc on standard, quality control and measurement in Islamabad.

The venue of the secretariat of the board would be decided at an appropriate time.The meeting also recommended that timely action would be taken by all the member states through the Saarc Standards Coordination Board for the implementation of the “regional plan of action on standards quality control and measurement and for eventual establishment of Saarc.”

Saarc secretary-general Chenkyab Dorji in a statement urged the delegates to finalise the Saarc regional plan of action on standards, quality control and measurement as agreed latest by December 31, 2006 and to devise a roadmap for the establishment of the Saarc regional standards body. Such an approach would be of immense help in facilitating and enhancing the intra-Saarc trade under Safta.—APP