| About Ministry | | MoC Directory | | Contact Ministry | | Site Map | | FAQs | | Pakistan.gov.pk | .

     
Your browser is not Macromedia Flash compatabe

Government of Pakistan
Ministry of Commerce

Commerce Division's Home Page
Home About Trade Policy SROs/Notifications Trade Statistics Downloads Trade Agreements Logon to MoC Web Mail

 

Commerce Division

About    Ministry

MoC  Directory
Contact Ministry
Frequently Asked Questions 
Site Map
Downloads
SROs/Orders/ Notifications

 

Related Links

Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Ministry of Finance 
State Bank of Pakistan
Central Board of Revenue 
Board of investment
Economic Affairs Division
Privatisation Commission
Pakistan Software Export Board
Small & Medium Enterprise Development Authority
Export processing Zone
Exchange   Rate

 Islamic Republic of              Peoples republic of
Pakistan                     China

Free Trade Agreement

Chinese President Hu Jintao and his Pakistani counterpart Pervez Musharraf Friday oversaw the signing of a free trade agreement between the two allies here in Islamabad on 24th November, 2006. The document was signed by the Commerce Ministers of both the countries.

The architecture of the bilateral Free Trade Agreement includes Trade in Goods and Investments in the first Phase and the leaders of both the countries have decided to negotiate on Trade in Services during 2007 to enlarge the coverage of the Free Trade Agreement.

The Early Harvest Programme between the two countries which was put into operation on 1st January 2006, has been merged into this bilateral FTA. In the overall package Pakistan will get market access at zero duty on industrial alcohol, cotton fabrics, bed-linen and other home textiles, marble and other tiles, leather articles, sports goods, mangoes, citrus fruit and other fruits and vegetables; iron and steel products and engineering goods. China will also reduce its tariff by 50% on fish, dairy sectors; frozen orange juice; plastic products; rubber products; leather products; knitwear; woven garments etc.

Pakistan has given market access to China mainly on machinery; organic; and inorganic chemicals, fruits & vegetables, medicaments and other raw materials for various industries including engineering sector, intermediary goods for engineering sectors, etc.

The Agreement
The Free Trade Agreement consists of the following components:

  • The Agreement, and
  • Annexes I, II and III 
     

The complete text of the Agreement ( Agreement signed at Islamabad on 24th November, 2006)

The agreement contains the Articles on Establishment of Free Trade Area, objectives, relation to other agreements,  application of this agreement, definitions, scope and coverage, National treatment, tariff elimination, para-tariffs and non-tariff barriers, rules of origin, Trade remedies, safeguard measures, sanitary and phyto-sanitary measures, TBTs, Investment,  settlement of disputes, amendments, annexes etc.

Annexes
 

 

Annex 'I'

Annex 'I' relates to the Elimination of import customs duties. It has two phases:

Phase-I -- Tariff Reduction Modality of China within five years after entry into force of this agreement:

Click to Download

Category
No.

Track

No. of
Tariff Lines

% of Tariff lines
at 8 digit

I

Elimination of tariff (Three years)

2681

35.5%

II

0-5% ( five years )

2604

34.5%

III

Reduction on Margin of Preference
of 50%( five years )

604

8%

IV

Reduction on Margin of Preference from 20% (five years)

529

7%

V

No Concession

1132

15%

Phase-I -- Tariff Reduction Modality of Pakistan within five years after entry into force of this agreement:

Click to Download

Category
No.

Track

No. of
Tariff Lines

% of Tariff
lines at 8 digit

I

Elimination of tariff (Three years)

2423

35.6%

II

0-5% ( five years)

1338

19.9%

III

Reduction on Margin of Preference
from 50%( five years)

157

2.0%

IV

Reduction on Margin of Preference
from 20%( five years)

1768

26.1%

V

No Concession

1025

15.0%

VI

Exclusion

92

1.4%

Note: elimination of tariff on the products covered in the Early Harvest Program (EHP) shall continue in accordance with the earlier agreed modality of tariff elimination for EHP.

 

Phase-II -- Both Parties shall endeavor to eliminate the tariffs of no less than 90% of products, both in terms of tariff lines and trade volume within a reasonable period of time on the basis of friendly consultation and accommodation of the concerns of both Parties.

Note: The base year for tariff reduction/elimination for China is 2006 and for Pakistan fiscal year of 2006-2007.

 

Annex 'II'

Annex 'II' is the form and instruction for the Certificate of Origin. A claim that products shall be accepted as eligible for preferential concession shall be supported by a Certificate of Origin issued by a government authority designated by the exporting Party and notified to the other Party to the Agreement in accordance with the operational certification procedures, as set out in this annex. (Chapter IV, Article 23 of the Agreement)

 

Annex 'III'

Annex 'III' is for the purposes of this Agreement and Chapter X (Dispute Settlement). It covers Rules of Procedure of an Arbitral Panel established pursuant to Article 63.

 

   

 


Pakistan
Country Guide

 

Departments

 

Export Promotion Bureau

Trading Corporation of Pakistan

National Tariff Commission

State Life Insurance Corporation

Foreign Trade Institute of Pakistan

Pakistan Reinsurance Company

National Insurance Company

Pakistan Tobacco Board

Federation of Chambers & Industry

Pakistan Horticulture Development & Export   Board

 

Important Links

 

Pakistan's Trade Missions Abroad

http://www.wto-pakistan.org/

http://www.commerce.gov.pk/Pak-Profile-wto.asp

Consulate General, Sydney, Australia

Commercial Section, Spain

Consulate General, Hong Kong

http://www.commerce.gov.pk/About.html

Pakistan's Diplomatic Missions Abroad