ISLAMABAD: The ministry of commerce has sought feedback from all stakeholders especially businessmen ahead of changing the trade regimes with India in a bid to protect the interest of local industries.

“All chambers of commerce and trade associations will have to identify importable items from India to be included in the negative list latest by October 15,” Secretary Commerce Zafar Mahmood told Dawn on Wednesday.

In principle, the government has decided to change the existing trade regime with India from ‘positive list’ to ‘negative list’.

The items, which were placed in the positive list, were importable from India under the current regime and the rest could not be imported.

Mr Mahmood said that under the negative list only those items will be included which could not be imported from India under the new trade regime.

At the moment, there was no negative list with India, he said adding, the ministry in consultation with industry and other stakeholders has started work since April to make a negative list for a new trade arrangement with India.

The secretary said that the ministry had already sent request for a feedback twice since April. “We have received feedback from some stakeholders so far”, he said.

Mr Mahmood said that trading with India under positive list was one of the non-tariff barriers (NTBs). “We have communicated to the Indian authorities about its removal. We have asked for removal of Indian NTBs in reciprocal of this change in regime”, he said.

He said moving from positive list to negative list was linked with the removal of NTBs by the Indian government. “We will remove our NTBs. We are on the way to normalise trade relation with India,” said the secretary.

The secretary said that a committee would also be established in collaboration with the leading chambers to give final shape to those items for placement in the negative list, which were considered a threat to the local manufacturers. “We cannot just include all items in the negative list. There must be some logic for inclusion of items in the negative list”, the secretary said.

An official statement of the commerce ministry issued on Wednesday said that the ministry was in process of switching trade arrangements with India from existing “Positive list” to “Negative list” of importable items from India in pursuance of the agreements reached during the commerce secretary level talks on Economic and Commercial Cooperation between Pakistan and India held in April 2011.

The stakeholders’ recommendations should include the following information: tariff lines (along with HS 6 digits code identified) for the inclusion in the Negative list; total production of the recommended item; the use of various inputs in production (in percentage terms); total employment with factory wise break-up; Pakistan global imports of that tariff line; retail price in Pakistan; National Tax Number/Sales Tax Number of the manufacturers and any other justification for import ban.