Pak to further cut 5% duty on imports from SAARC countries
11 Jul '06
3 min read
The government will announce another 5 percent tariff concessions in January 2007 on imports from India and Sri Lanka as non-least developed countries (Non-LDCs), and Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal and Maldives being 'least developed countries' (LDCs) under South Asia Free Trade Area (Safta) agreement.
Official sources told on Friday that the existing tariff reduction under Safta notified through SRO 695(I)/2006 would be applicable only for July-December 31, 2006 period.
A new notification would be issued in December 2006, further reducing the customs duty on import of items from both NLDCs and LDCs under Safta to be applicable from January 1, 2007.
Officials said that the rates of customs duty would be zero to 5 percent by the end of this program. For the LDCs, the rate of the tariff would be curtailed 5 percent in the next three years, excluding items specified in the 'sensitive list'.
For the NLDCs, the rate of customs duty would be 0-5 percent in the next seven years. By 2013, the duty structure for NLDCs would be 0-5 percent.
The tariff reduction on trade among Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal and Maldives would be completed in two phases: Phase-I (2006-2008), under which existing tariff rates above 20 percent to be reduced to 20 percent within two years, and tariff below 20 percent to be reduced on margin of preference basis of 10 percent per year. Phase-II (2008-2013) requires tariff to be reduced to 0-5 percent within 5 years.
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