Pakistan's trade with European countries under EU Autonomous Trade Preference Scheme will start from November 01, 2012 and an EU letter to this regard is expected by 28th of this month. This was stated by Head of WTO Cell of Trade Development Authority of Pakistan (TDAP), Mujeeb Ahmed Khan while speaking at a seminar on 'Implementation of EU Autonomous Trade Preference Scheme' jointly organised by Lahore Chamber of Commerce & Industry and Trade Development Authority of Pakistan (TDAP).
The LCCI President Farooq Iftikhar presented welcome address while Vice President Mian Abuzar Shad also spoke on the occasion. Mujeeb Ahmed Khan said that the TDAP was all set to issue online certificates from November 01 to the potential businessmen interested in doing business with European Union under EU Autonomous Trade Preference (ATP) Scheme. He, however, made it clear that for the remaining two months of the year (from November 01 to December 31, 2012) only 25 percent annual quota would be made available for duty-free access while it would be hundred percent from January 01, 2013.
Mujeeb Khan informed the participants that all chambers of commerce in the country would be issued guidelines for issuance of country-origin certificates within a week. He said that the businessmen doing business under EU Autonomous Trade Preference Scheme would have to mention the particulars of their buyer in European Union.
"75 items at the H.S Code 8 digit level have been granted duty free market access out of which 26 items are under quantity based Tariff Rate Quotas while 49 items are under a 25 percent quantity increase cap, based on average of last three year exports however, he said practically in all 75 items either there is a cap or quota," Mujeeb said.
He also said that if Pakistan fulfil all its conditions under EU Autonomous Trade Preferences (ATPs) for Pakistan then there will be an increase of 31.41 percent in the exports of Pakistan. He said that it was a big success that Pakistan got this opportunity despite opposition by Portugal, Greece and Spain that are not only Pakistan competitors in Europe but also members of the EU.
The Head of WTO Cell of TDAP said that the quota management would be done entirely by the European Commission. The basic role of Pakistani authorities related to confirming that the exported products were of Pakistani origin so that they could qualify for ATP concessions. Speaking on the occasion, the LCCI President Farooq Iftikhar said that the TDAP initiative was very crucial to set the priority right and to get business community ready to fully exploit the benefits GSP Plus status being granted to Pakistan in January 2014.
The LCCI president said that EU Autonomous Trade Preference Scheme would certainly allow the businessmen to reach out to new buyers as well therefore the private sector must prove that Pakistan is fully capable of producing quality goods as per international standards. Farooq Iftikhar, however, urged the TDAP to take onboard the private sector representative bodies like chambers of commerce while finalising any scheme or agreement on trade.
He said that the engineering products should also be made part of this scheme as Pakistan has expertise in it and presently exporting tractors and tractor spare-parts to many European countries. The LCCI president said that Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry would extend full support to all Trade Development Authority initiatives aimed at facilitating the exporters.
He said that the businesses could never become more agile and fast in delivering products and services without having a well tailored strategy and market intelligence. The LCCI president said that there was a need for businesses to optimise their operations by deploying the right infrastructure.