ISLAMABAD, Dec 9: Pakistan and China on Friday inked an agreement to enforce Early Harvest Programme (EHP) for reducing tariff on around 3,000 industrial and agriculture products from Jan 1, 2006.

Pakistan’s Commerce Minister Humayun Akhtar Khan and his Chinese counterpart Bo Xilai signed the agreement on behalf of their respective countries in Beijing.

Under the EHP, the two countries would receive tariff reduction on about 3,000 items, in three phases, till January, 2008. In the first phase, the Chinese side will bring down the excise duty to zero on 769 mutually agreed products that include vegetables, fruits, marble material and cotton fabrics.

Similarly, the Pakistani side will reduce the tariff to zero on 486 items, which include textile machinery and chemicals. The EHP consists of two lists of items — Common List and Separate List — for bringing customs duty to zero on certain items, even prior to the conclusion of the Free Trade Agreement (FTA).

It will also cover the items, on which, the two countries are already giving tariff concession under Preferential Tariff Agreement(PTA).

On average, there will be 27 per cent concession in duties from the Chinese side in the first phase, while it will be 22 per cent reduction in duties from the Pakistani side.

An official announcement said that the two ministers, during the talks, also agreed to make joint efforts to develop consensus on core issues to be addressed by the sixth ministerial conference (MC6) of the WTO, scheduled to take place in Hong Kong from Dec 13.

The EHP was concluded following the talks held in Islamabad in April last between Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz and the Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao.

The agreement was followed by bilateral talks held between the two ministers and conclusion of second round of negotiations on FTA.

The Chinese minister said Pakistan was the first country, with which, China would have the Free Trade Agreement, under the EHP, a part of FTA. He said the leadership of the two countries attached great importance to their bilateral ties and the EHP was the manifestation of their continuous efforts, to develop comprehensive partnership in all areas of mutual interest.