The Federal Cabinet, which is scheduled to meet on Wednesday, is expected to ratify 'Saarc agreement on Trade and Services' ('Satis'), without vetting as, according to Commerce Ministry, the Law Ministry is not paying attention to its communications, sources told Business Recorder.
The South Asian Association for Regional Co-operation (Saarc) consists of Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives and Nepal, and Afghanistan, whose accession to South Asian Free Trade Agreement (Safta) is still in process. The Saarc countries concluded Safta, which was signed during the 12th Saarc Summit at Islamabad in January 2004. It has been in operation since July 2006.
At the 13th Saarc Summit (Dhaka, 12-13 November 2005), the heads of States recognised the potential of trade in services and at the 14th Saarc Summit (New Delhi, 3-4 April 2007) the leaders stressed that to realise its full potential Safta should also integrate trade in services.
They also called for finalisation of an agreement in the services sector at the earliest. The draft agreement on Trade in Services was finalised in the 5th meeting of the Committee of Experts (CoE) on 7-8 February 2010 at Kathmandu. Before entering into negotiations on the agreement, necessary approval of the Cabinet was obtained.
Sources said that draft agreement was submitted to the Law Division for vetting on 29th March 2010. As the draft agreement could not be vetted on time, a summary for the Cabinet was moved by Ministry of Commerce, seeking approval for signing the agreement pending its vetting with the Law Division. The Cabinet in its meeting held on April 21, 2010 approved the signing of the draft agreement. In pursuance thereof, the Saarc agreement on Trade in Services was signed during the 16th Saarc Summit held at Thimphu, Bhutan on 28-29 April 2010.
So far, three Saarc contracting states--India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh--have ratified the agreement and deposited instruments of ratification with the Saarc Secretariat. The Secretariat has requested for completion of ratification process by the remaining member states before the 6th Meeting of the expert group on Saarc agreement on Trade in Services to be held soon at the Saarc secretariat, Kathmandu.
"Although the agreement has been signed, the Law Division was requested vide this Ministry's letters dated 28th June 2010, 15th September 2010, 23rd September 2010 and 12th October 2010 to give its concurrence to the agreement at this stage so that this Ministry could submit a summary for approval of the Cabinet for ratification of the Saarc agreement on Trade in Services. There is no response from the Law Division despite repeated requests by this Ministry," sources said adding that Law Division may therefore give its views on the agreement, if any, during the meeting of the Cabinet.