BIMSTEC trade experts to settle FTA issues in July 2006
Mizzima News, Dhaka, August 16, 2005
BIMSTEC trade experts to settle FTA issues in July 2006
Siddique Islam
Trade experts of the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) are working on settling various issues pertaining to trade and investment in a bid to start a journey towards free trade area (FTA) among member countries from July 2006.
They have discussed different issues including a negative list of products and the rules of origin (ROO) at the latest round of negotiations that concluded on Saturday in the Bhutan capital.
"We are hopeful of concluding the trade negotiations by December next and will go to the FTA in due time," a senior government official of Bangladesh, who attended the talks, told Mizzima News in Dhaka Monday.
He said the next round of talks will be held in Thailand next September to finalise some issues including trade mechanism among the member countries.
However, sources alleged that progress has hardly been achieved on the ROO issue due to non-settlement of criteria during the five-day meeting in Thimpu.
The draft proposal of BIMSTEC’s ROO was submitted during the Burma round talks last April.
Seven South and East Asian member countries of the (BIMSTEC) put their heads together on the most crucial issues.
According to sources, the developing countries - Thailand, India and Sri Lanka - proposed changes in customs tariff. Along with such change, India and Sri Lanka favoured 35 to 40 per cent value addition.
But the least developed countries (LDCs) - Bangladesh, Burma, Nepal and Bhutan - wanted to fix the ROO criteria only on value addition basis.
Experts, however, expressed optimism of an end to the stalemate on the ROO issue in the next round of talks to be held in the Thai capital from September 12-16, sources added.
BIMSTEC members have already unanimously agreed to go for the FTA beginning July 2006. Initially, the free trade will cover only products, but after 2007 even services and investment will come within its purview.
The member countries, which exchanged negative lists in a previous meeting, discussed various direct and indirect taxes for compensating revenue losses.
The BIMSTEC FTA will be implemented in two phases with the least developed nations, Bangladesh and Burma, getting a grace period in both phases.
In the first phase, also termed the First Track, the three developing countries will give free access to a number of goods of the LDCs between July 1, 2006 and July 1, 2007.
In the second phase, being dubbed as the Normal Track, the three developing nations- Thailand, India and Sri Lanka - will give free access to most of the LDC goods from July 1, 2010.
The LDCs, on the other hand, will provide free access to a number of products of the three developing countries from July 1, 2011 under the First Track.
Under the Normal Track, they will open their market to the three developing countries from July 1, 2017.
