ISLAMABAD, Dec 10: Pakistan like many other developing countries is facing high and complicated non-ad valorem duties (NAV) in around 50 countries, which restricted exports of industrial and agriculture goods to those markets.

Official sources told Dawn on Saturday that Pakistan would raise the issue at the Hong Kong ministerial conference to stress for earlier conversion of NAVs — duties in the shape of kilogram, quantity-wise, etc — into ad valorem duties (AVs) — duty on actual value — to provide a level-playing field to products of developing countries.

Pakistan is among 17 WTO countries that have NAV tariff lines below one per cent. This means that Pakistan has only nine tariff lines of NAVs out of its total 5,409 tariff lines mostly on agriculture products — oils.

The officials said this was the simplest tariff with no para tariffs as compared to other trading partners like Switzerland having the highest 83 per cent of NAVs on both agriculture and industrial goods. Thirty-three countries have less than five per cent of NAVs out of their total tariff lines.

The country-wise details on the basis of reports submitted to the WTO secretariat in 2001 showed that South Africa maintained 24.6 per cent out of its total tariff lines on both industrial and agriculture products; Thailand 22 per cent; Russia 14.3 per cent; Belarus 14.3 per cent; Cyprus 13.5 per cent; the United States 12.6 per cent; Kenya 11 per cent; and the European Union 9.7 per cent.

NAVs maintained by these countries are aimed at providing a protection to their sectors against any imports from both developing and least developing countries. Moreover, there was no mechanism for applying any cut in tariffs on these products under the current negotiation on agreement on agriculture and non-agriculture market access (NAMA).

The officials said that it would depend on 150 WTO countries to set a deadline for the conversion of these NAVs into AVs. The tariff rationalization is important to ensure that the economic activities in which a country has long term comparative advantage are promoted. Pakistan had already reduced its maximum tariff to 25 per cent and removed non-tariff barriers protection to its domestic industry, excluding the automobile sector.

The officials said that in case the ministerial round succeeded in making a pledge to convert these NAVs into AVs, Pakistan would get maximum market for exports of its agriculture produce to these countries.