MFN status to India may be delayed

GHULAM ABBAS

KARACHI: Though Pakistan has committed to granting Most Favoured Nation (MFN) status to India by the Dec-end, the process may be delayed further as approval from the Cabinet is yet to be sought by the Ministry of Commerce.

Talking to Business Recorder, Munir Qureshi, Secretary Commerce said that the process of normalising trade with India is needed to be approved from the Cabinet. The Cabinet would review the trade liberalisation process between Pakistan and India prior to granting MFN status to India. The government has already decided in principle to grant MFN status to India by eliminating the Negative List. The Cabinet would take final decision in this regard soon.

Besides, the MFN status is still subject to a level-playing field to be provided by India, Munir said.

According to sources, the ministry was still assessing that whether Delhi has taken required steps to provide the level-playing field to Pakistani exporters who were hesitant about competing with the Indian counterparts under the existing Non-Tariff Barriers (NTBs) and other hindrances to trade in the neighboring country. The ministry, according to sources, was under immense pressure from various sectors including automobile, pharmaceutical, agriculture and auto parts.

Besides, the expected delay in holding a meeting of the Cabinet amidst Quaid-e-Azam day and death anniversary of Benazir Bhutto in last week of Dec 2012 may delay the confirmation of the MFN status by December 31.

“Pakistan will not change its decision to grant MFN status to India and phase out the Negative List completely by December-end, as Islamabad has already made the commitments,” sources at the ministry said, adding that the Indian side would be taken into confidence if the process was delayed for a week.

The normalization of trade through deleting the existing Native List has been considered a major breakthrough in improving trade ties between the arch-rivals.