Formation of regional product standard body suggested

FE Report | Published: April 17, 2015 00:00:00 | Updated: November 30, 2026 06:01:00

South Asian countries need to adopt a comprehensive regional standard for products and reduce non-tariff barriers to help boost trade within the region, one of the least-integrated in the world.
The countries of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) also need to improve physical trans-border infrastructure and internal connectivity by rail, waterway and roads.
The views of trade experts came at a workshop on 'Regional Trade Issues' Thursday, organised jointly by the Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Dhaka (MCCI) and Asia Foundation for economic journalists.
The trade experts said that although many non-tariff measures in the region are compatible with the rules of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), in many cases these were actually discouraging trade expansion among the countries.
 "Bangladeshi cements required marking from Bureau of Indian Standard and it takes some time to get the certification of testing," said Dr Mostofa Abid Khan, a director of the state-backed Bangladesh Foreign Trade Institute (BFTI). "But there is nothing wrong in laboratory testing to ensure quality and standard of products."
Explaining misconceptions about non-tariffs, Dr Khan said that when this measure was taken explicitly to protect the domestic industry by restricting import demand, then it became a non-tariff barrier (NTB).   
He also said that all SAARC countries maintain import prohibition and restrictions on religious, health and social safety ground and NTMs are regulated by various laws.
Dr Khan said if SAARC countries could adopt Mutual Recognition Agreement (MRA) of quality standards among themselves and a regional accreditation board could be established, than standard related complexity would be eased and NTMs would be reduced.
In this connection, Shaquib Quoreshi, secretary of MCCI, said that a process has already started to setup a SAARC Standard.
He also said that non-tariff barriers (NTBs) were not always hindering intra-regional trade and there were something more than NTBs.
"We have identified 12 factors affecting trade which includes domestic supply capacity, effective market demand and lack of marketing," said Mr Quoreshi.
"Potential consumers in Madras don't know about some Bangladeshi products like toilet soap or fruit drink as our exporters mostly focus on west Bengal and north-eastern states of India," he added.
"Without any marketing effort, we can't expect that our products will reach Indian consumers," he added.
He also placed importance on expediting several SAARC protocols, like the motor vehicle agreement, to deepen regional integration process.
Four SAARC countries-Bangladesh, Bhutan, India and Nepal-have agreed to finalise motor vehicle deal within few months, Mr Quoreshi said, adding this will open up an opportunity for movement of cars from one country to the other.
The World Bank said South Asia remains one of the least-integrated regions in the world, where intra-regional trade hovers as low as 5.0 per cent. This compares with 55 per cent in the European Union and 22 per cent in Southeast Asia.  The volume of trade in the SAARC region stood 45 billion in 2013.  
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