ISLAMABAD: Officials of Pakistan and Thailand held detailed discussions on shared notes on the second day of the ongoing second round of talks on Free Trade Agreement (FTA).
The six working groups on trade, rules of origins, procedures and trade facilitation, technical barriers, standards for private sector and technical report met separately to discuss the proposals moved by both sides.
These working groups were formed on Monday after the inaugural session of the talks. The groups also discussed nature of issues pertaining to tariffs, customs duties, taxes and others and held separate meetings to overcome the possible impediments in the conclusion of FTA. Topics relate to possible structure of the FTA proposed by Thailand along with sectors including services, investment, IP and competition remained main focus of deliberations,” a member of Thai delegation told Customs Today.
Both the delegations also exchange relevant information, including trade data, import-export statistics. Text of Trade in Goods was also shard s a chapter of the agreement for the Pakistan-Thailand FTA, however, other matters related above working groups’ sectors were also separate chapter of the agreement” the said member further added.
Moreover, the Thai side also submitted the counter proposal of the Trade in Goods Chapter to the Pakistani delegation.
The shared documents reveal that proposals moved by Thai delegation included implementation period of the FTA must not be longer than seven years, tariff modality must be in four categories consisting of fast track, normal track, sensitive track, and highly sensitive track as well as that there must be no priori exclusion in the negotiations on market access. The documents reveal that initially Pakistani side responded to Thai proposals that time frame for liberalization of economy should be around ten years.
After conclusion of talks today (Wednesday) both the delegations will share minutes of the agreed points with each other and then agree to hold next round of talks May, this year in Thailand.
