In this regard the Cabinet approved the proposal for ratification of the protocol of accession of Afghanistan to Agreement on Safta. “Early ratification of the Protocol of Accession will accelerate Afghanistan’s formal joining of Safta. It will also help in full implementation of Safta by putting pressure on Pakistan to adhere to Safta norms for the sensitive list and give transit to Afghanistan,” information and broadcasting minister PR Dasmunsi said after a Cabinet meeting.
A Safta ministerial council meeting in March this year had recommended that Afghanistan would be treated at par with Maldives as far as Mechanism for Compensation of Revenue Loss (MCRL) under Safta is concerned.
The Cabinet also gave its approval for the establishment of South Asian Regional Standards Organisation (Sarso) and the charter of Saarc Development Fund (SDF). The minister said the establishment of Sarso would enhance economic engagements with South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (Saarc) countries by cooperating in the field of standards and quality control. It will accelerate full implementation of Safta by harmonising the standards in Saarc, he added.
Dasmunsi said early ratification of the SDF would accelerate the implementation of the regional and sub-regional projects in Saarc. A functional SDF would help change Saarc from declaratory body to an entity that implements projects.
The Saarc countries had earlier aimed to increase the intra-Saarc trade from the present $20 billion to $40 billion in the next 3-5 years. According to Research and Information System for Developing Countries, South Asia has emerged as one of the world’s fastest growing regions with an average growth rate of 8% sustained over the past five years. But RIS adds that the region continues to be home for over 40% of the world’s poor and fares poorly in terms of different indicators of human development.
Saarc was set up in 1985 by the heads of India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan and Maldives to advance common interest. Safta was launched in January 2006 and become operational in July 2006, opening over 4, 000 commodities for trade. In 2007, Afghanistan had joined the Saarc as the eighth member.
The proposal for setting up Sarso follows the establishment of the Standing Group on Standards, Quality Control and Measurements, by the
Saarc commerce ministers in May 1998.
The group had recognised the need for the Saarc Member Countries to forge a Regional Action Plan for the harmonisation of specific product standards and the process of developing regional standards. It was agreed that the member nations would promote mutual acceptability of laboratory accreditation process.
Sarso will now look at providing access to certification scheme relating to product, systems and services of one country by other countries, including exchange of information on statutory rules and regulations having bearing on certification.
To boost intra-Saarc trade through exchange of information in regulatory systems, the countries had agreed that agricultural & food products, building material and household electrical appliances would be covered in the first instance.
It was also agreed that there would be promotion of mutual acceptability of the certification process of Member Countries in relation to safety requirements of products. The countries would also develop a process of accreditation systems based on international norms to facilitate mutual recognition at a later stage. To avoid duplication of efforts, they would share the facility of accreditation bodies to facilitate getting international approval from organisations such as International Accreditation Forum.
There would also be identification of testing and calibration facilities in the region and access to these facilities, besides informing other Saarc countries about various training programmes, and providing a list of experts in their respective fields.
Source: www.financialexpress.com
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