Wednesday, December 28 2005 16:45 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

New Delhi: The Union Cabinet is likely to take up tomorrow (Dec 28, 2005) the ratification of South Asian Free Trade Agreement, which is to come into effect from January One, 2006.

The Cabinet may also take up the Hong Kong WTO Ministerial declaration at its meeting.

As per the provisions in SAFTA, member countries barring the Least Developed Countries will bring down their tariffs by 20 per cent at the end of first year.

They would bring down their tariffs in the range of 0-5 per cent after seven years, effectively reducing their import duties by 15 per cent every year.

LDCs would get a time frame of ten years to bring down their tariffs to 0-5 per cent.

India has a negative list of 884 items but for LDCs it has 764 items. These are those sensitive items on which no tariff reduction would take place.

New Delhi will also convert its specific duties into their ad valorem equivalents on certain textiles items over a time period of three years, a move expected to give market access to textiles from Pakistan.

SAARC's total exports in 2003-04 stood at $4,170.5 million, while its imports stood at $679.68 million.

The Cabinet is also expected to take up the Hong Kong WTO Ministerial declaration for discussion.

Commerce and Industry Minister Kamal Nath, who led the Indian delegation at WTO meeting, will make a presentation to the Cabinet.