The Hindu : National : Non-tariff barriers with SAARC nations will go: Jairam Ramesh

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Non-tariff barriers with SAARC nations will go: Jairam Ramesh

C. Gouridasan Nair

They are an irritant in trade ties

Plan to put new mechanism in place before Colombo summit
Export of rice, sugar and other items to Maldives cleared

MALE: Non-tariff barriers between India and other SAARC countries, which have been proving an irritant in trade relations, are to be phased out. Speaking to The Hindu on the sidelines of his discussions with representatives of the Maldives government here on Wednesday, Minister of State for Commerce Jairam Ramesh said the Ministry was in the process of identifying the barriers and removing them as far as possible.

He cited the recent decision to waive the stipulation for testing and certification of products by Indian laboratories as a precondition for imports. Instead of testing and certification by the Indian entities, it would now be enough if the job was done by laboratories in the SAARC countries accredited by the Bureau of Indian Standards.

“Wherever possible, we will remove such barriers. In cases where they cannot be removed, we will try to make the entire process less cumbersome and transparent,” he said.

The effort was to put the new mechanism in place before the next SAARC summit in Colombo.

Mr. Ramesh said the Government of India had also taken steps to automate some of the decisions relating to the SAARC countries. As part of this exercise, it had notified the release of 20,000 tonnes of rice, 17,000 tonnes of sugar and various other items figuring in the annual trade list with Maldives on Tuesday. This was for the first time the notification was made so early in any calendar year. In addition, 102 million eggs, 5,200 tonnes of potatoes, 8,000 tonnes of onions, 22,100 tonnes of wheat flour, 5,26,000 tonnes of stones and 5,85,000 tonnes of river sand were cleared for export to Maldives.

It was decided to convene an early meeting of the Indo-Maldives Joint Commission for Economic and Technical Cooperation, co-chaired by the Foreign Ministers. Its last meeting was held in March 2000 in New Delhi.

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