ISLAMABAD, Jan 24: Four ECO member countries have so far formally ratified the Economic Cooperation Organization Trade Agreement (ECOTA) for bringing down tariff to around 15 per cent on all products within a period of eight years.

Official sources told Dawn on Monday that the other member countries appeared reluctant to ratify the agreement so that to start negotiations on the listing of items to be considered for duty reduction under the agreement for enhancing intra trade within the region.

The ECOTA was signed here in Islamabad by the representatives of the ECO member countries on July 17, 2003 with a pledge of taking the trade liberalization process forward by making accelerated progress towards actualization of ECOTA by 2011.

Pakistan, Iran, Afghanistan and Turkey have so far ratified the agreement. While Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan have yet to ratify the agreement due to which the process of negotiations in other areas have also slowed down.

At the timing of the signing the member countries also agreed to constitute a high-level expert group (HLEG), which would report after each six months about the implementation process of the agreement. The committee was yet to be announced even after the signing of the agreements 18 months ago.

According to the agreement, a copy of which was made available to Dawn, the tariff would be scaled down in eight phases and there would be no increase in the existing tariff on the goods coming from ECO region.

It was agreed in the agreement that the items being traded within the ECO region would constitute a positive list and no member country would either block or raise duty on it.

Under the agreement, the positive list would expand every year to give coverage to at least 5 per cent more goods for the coverage of 80 per cent of goods by the end of the eight years.

It was also agreed that the reduction in tariff would be done gradually in eight years time by reducing at minimum 10 per cent customs duty on each item of the positive list. The member countries would also take measures for removing non-tariff barriers on imports and exports for facilitating the trade among the member countries.

The contracting parties should notify each other regarding the types of para tariff charges and their customs duties equivalence. All para tariff charges having effect equivalent to customs duties on imports should be abolished within two years of the entry into force of the agreement.