1.

Member(s) notifying: Afghanistan

2.

Date of notification: 29 July 2016

The original Contracting States (Bangladesh (LDC), Bhutan (LDC), India, Maldives (LDC), Nepal (LDC), Pakistan and Sri Lanka) notified SAFTA to the WTO Committee on Trade and Development on 21 April 2008. (See notification to the WTO Committee on Trade and Development circulated on 24 April 2008 under the symbol number wt/comtd/n/26)

3.

Notification pursuant to

[ ] Article XXIV:7(a) of GATT 1994

[ ] Article V:7(a) of GATS

[X] Paragraph 4(a) of the Enabling Clause

4.

Parties to the Agreement: Afghanistan (LDC), Bangladesh (LDC), Bhutan (LDC), India, Maldives (LDC), Nepal (LDC), Pakistan and Sri Lanka

5.

Date of signature: 6 January 2004 for the original Contracting States. Afghanistan signed the Agreement on 3 August 2008.

6.

Date(s) of entry into Force: The Trade Liberalization Programme (TLP) under SAFTA entered into force for Afghanistan on 7 August 2011.

7.

Brief description of the Agreement: 

Pursuant to Article 3, the Agreement aims at promoting and enhancing mutual trade and economic cooperation among Contracting States by, inter alia:

(a) Eliminating barriers to trade in, and facilitating the cross-border movement of goods between the territories of the Contracting States;

(b) Promoting conditions of fair competition in the free trade area, and ensuring equitable benefits to all Contracting States, taking into account their respective levels and pattern of economic development;

(c) Creating effective mechanism for the implementation and application of this Agreement, for its joint administration and for the resolution of disputes; and

(d) Establishing a framework for further regional cooperation to expand and enhance the mutual benefits of this Agreement.

Article 7 of the Agreement establishes a phased Trade Liberalization Programme (TLP) for the reduction of tariffs.

8.

Text and related schedules, annexes and protocols are:

[ ] submitted to the WTO Secretariat (electronic format)

[x] available from the following official Internet link(s):

http://saarc-sec.org/areaofcooperation/detail.php?activity_id=5