But, these are developments which are pretty on the face of them. The SAARC must be seen by all its members as truly a vehicle for the advancement of the collective good.
For SAFTA to progress faster towards its goals, parochial attitude must give way to cleaner dealings based on respect for honoring the sanctity of contracts.
If this can be brought out, with all SAARC members genuinely showing their commitments to give and take fairly in their trades, then real acceleration of the economic objectives of the organization is possible.
The South Asian regional forum may delay trade under the South Asia free Trade Area (SAFTA) deal due to non-issuance of customs notification for SAFTA implementation by four of the seven countries.
Since the member countries are yet to prepare specific rules for individual products under the rules of origin that determines tariff line, the Inter-regional trade under SAFTA is unlikely to begin immediately.
A problem with regard to implementation of the free trade area pact has arisen when Pakistan refused to grant a most favored nation (MFN) status to India, though it reached a decision on trading with India on the basis of a small list of 773 items.
Absence of issuance notification of SAFTA implementation by four member countries may also start a dispute.
Separation of tariff reduction procedure for LDCs and developed countries may cause another dispute to the trade liberalization programme under SAFTA.
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