1. Presentation on Economic Cooperation under SAARC
Economic, Trade and Finance Division
SAARC Secretariat, Kathmandu, Nepal.
23 August 2015

2. Facilitating Trade under SAARC
SAARC Members are Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
Five Member States belong to the category of Least Developed Countries i.e. Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives and Nepal (Afghanistan joined in 2007)
SAARC was established on 8 December 1985 with the signing of SAARC Charter by the SAARC Leaders at the First SAARC Summit held in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

3. SAPTA and SAFTA
SAPTA or SAARC Preferential Trading Arrangement was signed during Seventh SAARC Summit in Bangladesh on 11 April 1993.
SAFTA or South Asian Free Trade Area was signed during Twelfth SAARC Summit in Pakistan on 6th January 2004
SATIS or SAARC Agreement on Trade in Services was signed during 16th SAARC Summit in Bhutan on 29 April 2010.

4. SAPTA
SAARC Preferential Trading Arrangement was signed during Seventh SAARC Summit, Dhaka, Bangladesh on 11 April 1993.
Four Round of Trade Negotiations under SAPTA were conducted.
It was based on positive list approach
The operationalisation of SAPTA was notified to WTO on 25 April 1997 under Enabling Clause.
SAPTA covered limited number of products.

5. SAFTA SAFTA Agreement was signed on 6 January 2004 .
After ratification by all Member States, it entered into force with effect from 1 January 2006.
After issuance of customs notifications by all Member States, the Trade Liberalisation Programme under SAFTA commenced w.e.f. 1 July 2006

6. SAFTA It is based on negative or sensitive list approach.
Effort is to reduce the sensitive lists to the minimum, especially by NLDCs for the export products of LDCs.
India has only 25 tariff lines in its sensitive lists for LDCs. These include tobacco and whisky.

7. SAFTA
Sensitive Lists of Bhutan and Maldives contain only about 150 tariff lines.
The third phase of reduction in the Sensitive Lists is currently underway.

8. SAFTA SAFTA Rules of Origin
a. Single Contracting State Content [Rule 8 (a)]
b. Product Specific Rules (PSRs) [Rule 8 (b)]
c. Regional Cumulation (Rule 9)
d. Special Treatment to LDCs and Sri Lanka (Rule 10)

9. SAFTA
Intra-SAARC Trade Flows under SAFTA have been witnessing upward trend since launching of TLP in July Still it is much below the expected levels and much below the existing regional trade taking place currently among the Member States

10. SAFTA
Efforts are on to bring intra-SAARC trade taking place under the bilateral trade regimes of Member States under the umbrella of SAFTA. For this purpose, a Study has been conducted with the assistance of Asian Development bank which is now in the implementation stage.

11. SAFTA
SAFTA was notified to WTO under Enabling Clause on 21 April 2008.
All Member States are individually forwarding their data on intra-SAARC trade flows under SAFTA to WTO. They are also send their data to the SAARC Secretariat twice a year

12. Afghanistan Exports under SAFTA (US$)
Year
Exports under SAFTA
2011 (w.e.f. 28 Sept 2011)
14,770,442.10
2012
138,020,780.00
2013
155,747,730.00
2014
201,381,838.00
2015 (upto 30 June 2015)
95,103,708.35
Total
605,024,498.45

13. Trade Faciliation
For smooth flow of trade in goods, it is essential to facilitate trade. For this purpose several initiatives are being taken by SAARC which include harmonisation of standards, harmonisation of customs documents and customs procedures.

14. Trade Faciliation
Facilitating transit and transportation of goods; and movement of people, particularly businessmen across the borders; removal of Non-Tariff Barriers and Para-Tariff Barriers; settlement of disputes; promoting intra-regional trade, inter-alia, by organizing events such as Trade Fairs and Trade Exhibitions.

15. Trade Facilitation - Customs
In the area of Customs, a SAARC Group on Customs Cooperation has been established at the level of Heads of Customs Organisations of Member States. A Sub-Group on Customs Cooperation has also been established at the functional level.

16. Trade Facilitation - Customs
Work at hand:
Harmonisation of
Customs Documentation
Customs Procedures
8-digit Tariff Lines of Member States

17. Trade Facilitation - Customs
Inter-operability of Systems being followed by customs administrations;
Preparation of a simplified form for Customs Declaration for trade in goods in the SAARC region; and
Capacity Building.

18. Trade Facilitation - Customs
The Ninth Meeting of the Sub-Group on Customs Cooperation was held in Colombo in June 2013 to discuss above issues.
A SAARC Agreement on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Customs Matters has been signed and is already in force.

19. Trade Facilitation - Customs
To help the SAARC process, a Consultant was appointed to conduct a Study on Role and Scope of Customs in Trade Facilitation. The recommendations of the Consultant were considered by the Group on Customs Cooperation.

20. Trade Facilitation - Standards
SARSO or South Asian Regional Standards Organisation has been established in Dhaka, Bangladesh.
Three Meetings of the Governing Board of SARSO have been held.
Dr. Humayun Kabir has been appointed as the First Director General of SARSO

21. Trade Facilitation - Standards
SARSO Governing Board is assisted by:
Technical Management Board (TMB); and
Sectoral Technical Committees for harmonisation of standards

22. Trade Facilitation - Standards
Six Sectoral Technical Committees:  
Food and Agricultural Products
Electrical, Electronics, Telecoms and IT
Jute, Textiles & Leather
Building Materials
Chemical and Chemical Products
Conformity Assessment

23. Harmonization of Standards of Identified Products
1. Refined Sugar
2. Biscuits
3. Instant Noodles
4. Black tea
5. Banaspati (veg. ghee)
6. Skimmed Milk Powder
7. Standard for food Hygienic
condition
8. Steel tube for Structural
purposes
9. Ordinary Portland Cement
10. Steel Bars for Ceramic
Reinforcement
11. Ceramic Tiles
12. Identified Hessian and Tarpaulin
fabric
13. Jute Bags for packing of various
commodities
14. Jute twine
15. Jute Carpet backing Fabric
16. Jute yarn
17. Cotton Drill Fabric
18. Cotton Twill Fabric
19. Towels and Toweling Fabric
20. Electric cable
21. Double capped fluorescent Lamp
22. Shampoo and
23. Toilet soap 23

24. Conformity Assessment and Regional Standards
SAARC Agreements on
Conformity Assessment and Regional Standards
SAARC Agreement on Multilateral Arrangement on Recognition of Conformity Assessment; and
SAARC Agreement on Harmonisation of Regional Standards
signed during the Seventeenth SAARC Summit held in the Maldives on November 2011 have been already ratified byall Member States except Nepal

25. Trade Facilitation - Standards
In respect of some of the products, the work on harmonisation of standards is in advance stages. Draft SAARC Standards on some of the products have already been finalised by SARSO.

26. SAFTA Ministerial Council
The Eighth Meeting of SAFTA Ministerial Council held in Thimphu on 24 July reviewed the progress with regard to progress towards regional economic integration and urged all concerned SAARC mechanisms for expeditious action towards the implementation of mandates of higher SAARC bodies.
The Ninth Meeting of SAFTA Ministerial Council is scheduled to be held in Afghanistan on 13 October 2015 preceded by the Tenth Meeting of the SAFTA Committee of Experts on October 2015

27. SAARC STUDIES
Study on the Regional Economic Integration in SAARC, its current extent and recommendations for further deepening
Study on codification of variations in the level of development of Capital Markets in SAARC Member States
Study on “Development of Institutional Framework for Data Collection on Trade in Services, including Capacity Building”
Study on Development of web-based, user-protected interface and institution of a designated Statistics Cell at Secretariat for coordinating all statistical data or requirements thereof.
Study on Regional Economic Integration (Second Phase)
Study on “Development of a Regional Coordinated Surveillance Mechanism”
Study on SAARCSTAT Web Portal

28. Questions, if any, are welcome.
Thank you for your attention !