. /.   WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  WT/COMTD/N/26 
24 April 2008 
 (08-1955) 
Committee on Trade and Development Original:   English 
  
NOTIFICATION OF REGIONAL TRADE AGREEMENT 
 
  The following notification, dated 21 April 2008, is being circulated at the request of the 
Delegation of India on behalf of Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, 
all of which are contracting states of the South Asian Free Trade Agreement (SAFTA).  
 
1. Member(s) notifying:    
Least Developed Contracting States 
(LDCs) Non-Least Developed Contracting States 
(NLDCs) 
Bangladesh India 
Bhutan Pakistan 
Maldives Sri Lanka 
Nepal   
2. Date of notification:   21 April 2008 
(SAARC Secretariat Notification No. S AARC/ETE/60/SAFTA/2006 dated 22 March 2006) 
3. Notification pursuant to 
[  ] Article XXIV:7(a) of GATT 1994 [  ] Article V:7(a) of GATS 
[X] Paragraph 4(a) of the Enabling Clause 
4. Parties to the Agreement:    
Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. 
Afghanistan (LDC) is in the process of beco ming a Contracting State to the Agreement. 
5. Date of signature:   6 January 2004 
Ratification of the Agreement along with its Annexes: 
 
Member State Date of Ratification With effect from 
Bangladesh 29 December 2005 1 January 2006 
Bhutan 14 December 2005 1 January 2006 
India 16 March 2006 1 January 2006 
Maldives 22 December 2005 1 January 2006 
Nepal 14 December 2005 1 January 2006 
Pakistan 11 March 2006 1 January 2006 
Sri Lanka 3 February 2006 1 January 2006 
 
The Trade Liberalization Programme (TLP) unde r SAFTA commenced  w.e.f. 1 July 2006 
by all Member States except Nepal and Sri Lanka which did so with effect from  
1 August 2006 and 16 September 2006 respectively. WT/COMTD/N/26 
Page 2  
 
  6. Date(s) of entry into Force:   1 January 2006 
7. Brief description of the Agreement:    
Article 3 of the Agreement contains the objec tives of this Agreement which are to promote 
and enhance mutual trade and economic cooperation among Contracting States by, 
inter alia : 
 (a) eliminating barriers to trade in, and facil itating the cross-border movement of goods 
between the territories of the Contracting States; 
 (b) promoting conditions of fair competition in the free trade area, and ensuring 
equitable benefits to all Contracting St ates, taking into account their respective 
levels and pattern of  economic development; 
 
(c) creating effective mechanism for the im plementation and application of this 
Agreement, for its joint administration and for the resolution of disputes;  and 
 (d) establishing a framework for further regi onal cooperation to expand and enhance 
the mutual benefits of this Agreement.  
 
Article 7 of the Agreement provides for a phased Trade Liberalization Programme (TLP) 
for reduction of tariffs to zero to 5 per cent w ithin ten years of coming into force of the 
Agreement, and this TLP would cover all tariff lines except those items kept in the Sensitive 
List by each contracting state.  
8. Text and related schedules, annexes and protocols are: 
[..] submitted to the WTO Secretariat (electronic format) 
Text and related schedules, annexes and protocols are: 
[X] available from the following official Internet link(s):  
Member State Websites 
SAARC Secretariat http://www.saarc-sec.org   
Bangladesh -- 
Bhutan -- 
India http://commerce.nic.in  under the sub-heading Trade 
Agreements/Transit Arrangements – India's current engagement in RTAs – SAFTA. 
Maldives -- 
Nepal -- 
Pakistan http://commerce.gov.pk  under the sub-heading Trade 
Agreements/SAFTA 
Sri Lanka www.doc.gov.lk  under Trade Agreements in operation 
Afghanistan   (not yet a contracting state to the Agreement)   
 
 
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