ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and India forged ahead, liberalising trade between the two countries, formally signed three agreements at the end of the seventh round of commerce secretary level talks to boost economic activity between the two countries. Secretary Commerce Pakistan Munir Qureshi and his Indian counterpart S R Rao signed the agreements on Friday. The signing ceremony was presided over by Commerce Minister Makhdoom Amin Fahim.
The commerce minister later told media persons that the deadline for phasing out the negative list is December 31 this year and both countries "are making positive progress", adding that both sides also agreed to hold the next round of bilateral talks in April 2013 in New Dehli.
The agreements included redressal of trade grievances and agreement between Pakistan and India on co-operation and mutual assistance in custom matters. Both sides agreed on the same pattern as mutual recognition agreement between Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) and Pakistan Standard and Quality Control Authority (PSQCA), another pact between Export Inspection Council of India (EIC) and PSQCA was also signed.
Both sides termed the signing of agreements a positive step and expressed the hope that this would substantially facilitate bilateral trade not only between the two countries, but prove beneficial for all South Asian countries. "Both sides appreciated that better trading opportunities provided through land route would enhance mutual prosperity of the business communities and consumers on both sides of the border. They, however, noted that there is need to further strengthen infrastructure for expanding trade. They directed the customs and the port authorities to resolve all the issues through mutual co-operation, harmonisation of customs procedures, provision of laboratory facilities, scanners, weigh bridges, cold houses, containerised services and automation of the business processes," the joint statement said.
It said that both sides expressed satisfaction on signing of agreements and directed the relevant authorities to frame rules and procedures to fully implement these agreements. "For this purpose, meetings of the Customs Liason Border Committee would be held on monthly basis. CLBC would also explore the possibilities of organising meetings between the relevant importers and exporters at Wagah-Attari border. It was decided that this Land Customs Station would operate seven days a week," it added.
According to officials, India has offered Pakistan 500 megawatts of electricity, besides agreeing to lay a pipeline for transporting refined petroleum products to Pakistan. Pakistan is also willing to import 200 MMCFD of LNG from India and in this regard negotiations have reached at an advance stage.
During the talks, Qureshi said certification, licensing and lab testing are not the only non-tariff barriers (NTBs), but issues like delays in customs clearance, non-availability of railway wagons for cargo transport, absence of direct flights or any problem which delays the clearance of goods with no end results or change, faced by importer/exporter "is an NTB".
"Both sides have already exchanged the draft texts and it was agreed to complete the internal approvals before the next meeting of the Commerce Secretaries," the joint statement said. It said that to frame rules and procedures to implement the two agreements signed between the Customs Authorities, it was agreed that the joint working group on customs would meet in the following month either at Karachi or Mumbai.
The statement said Pakistan had informed that summary for removal of restrictions on trade through land route has been moved to the Cabinet and said a decision to this effect was expected before October end. Both the sides also agreed to reduce their sensitive list under the South Asian Free Trade Agreement (Safta).
As part of this round of talks, representatives of the Civil Aviation Authorities of both the countries undertook discussions to ensure better air connectivity between New Delhi and Islamabad. It was agreed that a Joint Working Group would be formed before November 15 to work out a more liberalised regime of reciprocal bilateral rights for commercial flights, to ensure economic viability of the air route.
This JWG would also explore mechanisms for more efficient courier services, it said. Furthermore, preliminary discussions were held on possibilities of better telecommunication linkages keeping in view the requirements of business communities of both sides for international roaming facilities. "It was agreed that separate sub-groups on either side would take forward this dialogue. The Commerce Secretaries would review thereafter," the statement said.
During the talks, Pakistan agreed with India that it would recognise India as Most-Favoured Nation (MFN) by December this year as had earlier been agreed. The Commerce Secretaries also reviewed the progress on other issues such as enhanced trade for petroleum products, trade in power and reciprocal opening of Bank branches.