ISLAMABAD, Dec 1: Pakistan will formally ask Iran to lift ban on import of fruits and wheat from Islamabad to bridge the gap in bilateral trade between the two countries.

An official at the commerce ministry told Dawn on Monday that Islamabad would raise the issue of Iranian ban on the imports of Pakistani mango, kinoo and wheat.

The Iranian government had imposed a ban on the imports of these items from Pakistan in 2000 for no obvious reason.

According to the official, the issue would be discussed during the forthcoming Joint Ministerial Commission (JMC) scheduled for next month.

During the JMC, the official said Islamabad would also discuss the issue of rice export with the officials of the Government Trading Corporation (GTC) of Iran. The Iranian authorities have declined to import rice from Pakistan on the pretext that its price is higher in comparison with those quoted by other countries.

Earlier, GTC had requested Pakistan for supply of around 8,000 tons of rice.

According to the official, during the meeting the date for early finalization of preferential trading arrangement (PTA) would also be fixed. The signing of PTA would lead to formal negotiations on the signing of a free trade agreement (FTA) in order to increase the current volume of bilateral trade between the two countries, he added.

The statistics showed that the bilateral trade remained heavily tilted in favour of Iran in the last few years. Pakistan’s trade deficit with Iran increased by 135 per cent in the year 2002-03 to $303.308 million, as against $129.031 million in the previous year.

Pakistan has also expressed its willingness to establish a common market in the border areas, the official said and added location for setting up such a market was likely to be identified during the meeting.

The Pakistani delegation would also urge Iran to consider implementing the much-awaited convention between the two countries for the avoidance of double taxation and prevention of fiscal evasion in respect of taxes on income.

Pakistan and Iran had signed the agreement for avoidance of double taxation on May 27, 1999, said sources, adding the agreement had not been enforced as the formalities for exchange of instruments of ratification by the two states were still pending.

The two countries will also likely to discuss possibilities of cooperation in the field of customs for exchanging expertise to facilitate bilateral trade and remove the unnecessary bottlenecks causing delay in the shipment of goods between the two countries.