The main objective of the agreement is to promote competition in the region and to provide fair benefits to the countries concerned. It aims to benefit the people of countries by bringing transparency and integrity between nations. SAFTA was also created to raise the level of trade and economic cooperation among SAARC countries by reducing tariffs and obstacles, and also to provide a framework for further regional cooperation among least developed countries (LDCs) among SAARC-nations.to. The full form of SAFTA is South Asian Free Trade Agreement, or SAFTA stands for South Asian Free Trade Agreement, or the full name of the abbreviation given is South Asian Free Trade Agreement. The establishment of an intergovernmental group to formulate an agreement on the establishment of a SAPTA by 1997 was approved at the sixth SAARC Summit in Colombo in December 1991. The diversion results in a monthly loss of government revenue of 50 crore rupees ($7 million) and also hurts refineries in northeastern India, she added. The South Asian Free Trade Agreement is known as SAFTA. Palm oil accounts for nearly two-thirds of India`s total edible oil imports. India buys palm oil from Indonesia and Malaysia, while soybean oil is mainly imported from Argentina and Brazil. The country sources sunflower oil from Ukraine. [8] Traders use SAFTA to divert palm oil through Bangladesh, Nepal to India.
The Solvent Extractors` Association of India (SEA), the top body in vegetable oil trade, has called on the government to look for ways to end the indirect supply of palm oil and soybean oil from Nepal and Bangladesh under the South Asian Free Trade Agreement (SAFTA). SaFTA`s objective is to promote and increase joint contracts between countries, such as medium- and long-term contracts. Contracts relating to trade with States, security of supply and import of certain products, etc. It includes an agreement on tariff concessions such as domestic tariff concessions and non-tariff concessions “Palmolein imported from Nepal is of Indonesian and Malaysian origin and soybean oil is of South American origin and is transported through Nepal or Bangladesh. to obtain duty exemption for such imports,” he said in a statement. This will help Malaysia divert palm oil via Bangladesh and Nepal to compensate for the Indian government`s decision to stop Malaysian palm oil imports after Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad opposed the lifting of special status for Kashmir. According to the trade liberalization programme, contracting countries must comply with the following tariff reduction plan. There should be a reduction of the tariff to 20 per cent compared to the existing tariff by the least developed countries and a reduction of the existing tariff by 30 per cent compared to the existing tariff by the least developed countries. However, the trade liberalization regime is not intended to be applied to the sensitive list, as this list must be negotiated between the contracting countries and then traded. The sensitive list will include a joint agreement between the contracting countries in favour of the least developed contracting countries. The SAFTA Ministerial Council (CMS) will participate in the review of the sensitive list every four years with a view to reducing it. The South Asian Free Trade Area (SAFTA) is the free trade agreement of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC).
The agreement entered into force in 2006 and replaced the SAARC Preferential Trade Arrangement of 1993. The signatory states of La Safta are Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. The agreement was signed in 2004 and entered into force on 1 January 2006 with the wish of saarc member states (Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka) to promote and maintain mutual trade and economic cooperation within the SAARC region through the exchange of concessions. Nepal imported 54,076 tons of palm oil from July to August and exported 35,706 tons to India during that period, the trade organization said, citing import data. The South Asian Free Trade Area (SAFTA) is an agreement reached on 6 January 2004 at the 12th SAARC Summit in Islamabad, Pakistan. It created a free trade area of 1.6 billion people in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka to reduce tariffs on all traded goods to zero by 2016. The SAFTA Agreement entered into force on 1 January 2006[1] and will enter into force after ratification of the Agreement by the seven governments. SAFTA has committed that developing countries in South Asia (India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka) will reduce their tariffs to 20% in the first phase of the biennium ending in 2007. During the last five-year phase, which ended in 2012, the 20% tariff was reduced to zero in a series of annual reductions. The least developed countries in South Asia (Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Afghanistan and Maldives) still have three years to reduce tariffs to zero. India and Pakistan ratified the treaty in 2009, while Afghanistan, as the 8th SAARC member state, ratified the DCFTA Protocol on 4 May 2011. [2] India imposes taxes of 50 percent on refined palm oil and 45 percent on refined soybean oil and another 10 percent surtax on tariffs.
The basic principles underlying SAFTA are as follows: A sensitive list is a list of each country that does not contain any tariff concessions. Bangladesh has 1,233 products on the sensitive list for least developed countries and 1,241 for least developed countries under SAFTA. Bangladesh will reduce the sensitive list by 246 points for least developed countries (LDCs) and 248 points for non-least developed countries. [5] India has 25 items on the sensitive list for LDCs and 695 for non-LDCs. Manmohan Singh, then India`s prime minister, announced in Dhaka in September that he would reduce the sensitive list by 46. Bhutan has 150 points for LDCs and non-LDC countries and does not intend to shorten its list. Nepal has 1,257 for LDCs and 1,295 for non-LDC countries. Nepal reduced its list from 1295 to 259. Now there are 1,036, the assistant secretary at the Department of Commerce and Supply said. [6] The Maldives has 681 for the seven SAFTA countries. Pakistan had 1,169 in its sensitive list, but reduced its sensitive list by 20% to 936. [7] Sri Lanka has 1,042 and Afghanistan 1,072 points on the negative list.
The full form of SAFTA is the South Asia Free Trade Area. In its preamble, SAFTA recognizes the need for special and differential treatment of least developed countries. This has been implemented in the following measures: Sea called on the government to fill a gap in the South Asia Regional Free Trade Pact that has been used to circumvent tariffs by diverting imports of palm oil and soybean oil via Nepal and Bangladesh. South Asian Free Trade Agreement SAFTA Full form in Hindi – दक्षिण एशियाई मुक्त व्坎ापार समझौता Market access: LDCs benefit from smaller sensitive lists in some of safta members (meaning, that they have access to the FSD for a greater number of products) and less stringent rules of origin (obligation to change tariff item and value added by 10% less than the general requirement for non-LDCs; the rule general is 60% and there are some specific products Rules – see Rule 10 of Annex IV to the Agreement). .