SAARC states ratify SAFTA

Added: (Mon Mar 27 2006)

Pressbox (Press Release) - The seven member states of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) have ratified the South Asian Free Trade Area (SAFTA) agreement, according to a notification of SAARC Secretariat.
The SAARC Secretariat in Kathmandu, Nepal in the notification said it had received copies of all Instruments of Ratification.
"All member countries have unanimously decided to undertake the first tariff reduction of around five per cent on July 1, the notification said.
However, Nepal will take the reduction in August.
Of the seven SAARC member states, Pakistan, India and Sri Lanka are non-least developed countries (Non-LDCs) and Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan and the Maldives are least developed countries (LDCs).
Afghanistan, a recent inclusion in SAARC, is an observer to SAFTA.
The Revenue Compensation Mechanism will be available to the LDCs after July 1, 2007, it said. Accordingly, only the annex relating to technical assistance to the LDCs would become operational before July 2006.
SAFTA was signed at the 12th SAARC Summit in Islamabad in January 2004.
Subsequently, the SAFTA Committee of Experts (CoE) held 12 meetings to finalise four outstanding issues of the agreement.