Pak-China FTA Phase-II comes into effect

ISLAMABAD: The Phase-II of Pakistan-China Free Trade Agreement (FTA) came into effect on Wednesday after the issuance of the Statutory Regulatory Orders (SRO) to implement the protocol agreed between the two countries.

According to a statement released, in order to implement the agreed protocol it has "transpose the offer list and developed a SRO”. It also said that the SRO was developed in consultation with commerce ministry.

The Federal Bureau of Revenue (FBR) has said that the China Pakistan FTA's Phase-II will come into effect through SRO1640(I)/2019 from January 1 (today) and will replace the old SRO 659(I)/2007 which was passed in June 2007.

“The Tariff Elimination Schedule/ Offer List of Pakistan shared by ministry is divided under the categories A0, A7, A15, MOP1, MOP2, C1 and C2. The Customs Duties in 3251 Tariff Lines in the A0 category will be eliminated entirely and such goods shall be free of customs duty from 01.01.2020. In the category A07 the duty structure will be tapered towards elimination from Year 2 to year 7 and in Category A15 the duty structure will be tapered towards elimination from Year 4 to year 15. In the Margin of Preference (MOP) there are two categories, in MOP1 the Customs Duties shall be reduced by 20 per cent of the base rate on the date this protocol enters into force and in MOP2 the duty structure will be reduced 20 per cent from the base rate in two years’ time. The Customs Duties on originating goods provided for in category C1 shall remain at base rates and in category C2 shall not be subject to any concession,” the statement said.

Pakistan and China inked the FTA-II in Beijing on April 28, 2019 and under the new FTA Pakistan had secured enhanced and deeper concessions on products of its export interests, revision of safeguards mechanism for protection of the domestic industry, inclusion of the balance of payment clause as a safety valve against balance of payments difficulties, and effective enforcement of the electronic data exchange.

The second phase of the FTA will give Pakistan an opportunity to increase its exports to China by $4-6 billion in the next five years.

The prominent salient feature of the FTA is the safe guard measures under which Pakistan will be able to restrict imports from China if it deems that its industry is going to injure with the import of that particular items.

Originally published in The News