Pakistan, India ties : ‘Non-tariff barriers still there’

Industry proposes joint business strategies, particularly in textile.

LAHORE: Industrialists, while welcoming the most-favoured nation (MFN) status granted to India, have pointed to the non-tariff barriers created by Delhi which will hinder the smooth flow of trade between the two countries.

All Pakistan Textile Mills Association (Aptma) Chairman Mohsin Aziz said India should remove the non-tariff barriers to make MFN status a success. He termed the grant of MFN status a right step in the right direction, but said India faced the challenge of removing the trade barriers against Pakistani products.

According to statistics, trade between the two sides was $1.4 billion in 2009-10. Of this, Indian exports to Pakistan stood at $1.2 billion, while Pakistan’s exports to India were a meagre $268 million. “It is a clear proof that India has not opened up its market to Pakistani goods,” he said.

According to Aziz, though Delhi gave MFN status to Pakistan in 1996, still countless trade barriers were in place against Pakistani goods in the Indian market.

The Aptma chairman said India should open up its market to Pakistani goods to normalise bilateral trade and capitalise on the potential for joint business strategies, particularly in the textile industry.

On the other hand, the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) asked the government to take industries like pharmaceutical, automobile, motorcycle, petrochemical, auto parts, sugar, textile, cooking oil and ghee into confidence before signing the MFN document.

LCCI President Irfan Qaiser Sheikh said the chamber was in favour of promotion of trade with regional countries, especially with next door neighbours for the sake of peace, prosperity and economic revival, but the MFN status must not be at the cost of industry.

He suggested that policymakers should take up the issue of non-tariff barriers with their Indian counterparts, enabling both the sides to have a level playing field.

Sheikh said Pakistan and India should harmonise their customs procedures for assessing compliance with safety and quarantine standards. In this regard, special quarantine centres and laboratories should be established at border crossings.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 4^th,  2011.