3 August 2007: New Delhi

Pakistan and India have agreed to Boost trade between both the countries by removing bottlenecks and facilitating export of cement from Pakistan to India on fast track. This was stated in a joint statement issued on Friday evening on the conclusion of the Third Meeting of India-Pakistan Joint Study Group (JSG) at Commerce Secretary -Level held here on Thursday.

the meeting was co-chaired by Pakistan Secretary Commerce Syed Asif Shah and Indian Commerce Secretary G. K. Pillai.

It was agreed to finalize the process of certification of the three Pakistani cement factories by September 15. More Pakistani cement manufacturers will be certified on fast track basis.

Syed Asif Shah while agreeing with the need to facilitate trade, said in the spirit of the Article XXIV of GATT, India should consider creating special provision for giving more market access to Pakistan.

They have agreed to hold meeting of sub Groups on Customs Cooperation and Trade Facilitation Measures every six months in order to ensure speedy implementation of the recommendations of the Joint Study Group.

Both the countries agreed to forge consultative mechanisms for taking common positions in international standard setting fora. As a first step it was agreed that international meetings of such nature that are of interest to both sides would be identified for the next six months and the possibility of exchange of views prior to these meetings would be explored. This will be done by September 30th.

Indian Commerce Secretary underscored the need for the Joint Study Group to prepare their recommendations in a time bound manner. The Sub Group on Customs Cooperation and Trade Facilitation Measures reached consensus on many matters including working towards a bilateral agreement on Customs Cooperation on specific bilateral issues, setting up a Customs Border Liaison Committee at Attari-Wagah border to meet once in two months to resolve the operational issues at the field level; and working towards electronic exchange of information, including to verify the adherence to the Rules of Origin;

The Sub Group on Sanitary and Phyto-Sanitary Measures reached consensus on many issues including exchange of a list of 20 products of export interest to both sides by 31 August 2007 and preparing a Compendium of procedures for their trade facilitation. Though this would be a continuous process, efforts would be made to complete the exercise and place it on their respective websites by December 31.

Source: Associated Press of Pakistan