Pakistan, Iran Expect To Upgrade FTA Early Next Year

by Mary Swire, Tax-News.com, Hong Kong

11 December 2017

Pakistan's Commerce Ministry says that talks with Iran towards an uprade to their free trade agreement are at an advanced stage, with a deal possible by the first quarter of next year.

A third meeting of the Trade Negotiation Committee, to discuss improvements to the Pakistan-Iran FTA (PIFTA), was held on November 21-22, 2017. Pakistan's Commerce Ministry said representatives reached an agreement on several areas of an update, including in the area of goods trade liberalization, with a text on these areas being finalized.

The initial deal included tariff concessions from Pakistan on 338 Iranian tariff lines, while Iran agreed to offer concessions for 309 tariff lines.

It was agreed that provisions expanding the list of import duties removed or reduced under the agreement should be included on January 31, 2018, after both countries have exchanged requests for duty concessions in particular areas. This is likely to be concluded after the fourth meeting, scheduled for next month.

Progress on this and other areas will enable a deal to be finalized by March 2018, the Commerce Ministry said.

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