South Asian Free Trade Area (SAFTA)

SAPTA was envisaged primarily as the first step towards the transition to a South Asian Free Trade Area (SAFTA) leading subsequently towards a Customs Union, Common Market and Economic Union. In 1995, the Sixteenth session of the Council of Ministers (New Delhi, 18-19 December) agreed on the need to strive for the realization of SAFTA and to this end an Inter-Governmental Expert Group (IGEG) was set up in 1996 to identify the necessary steps for progressing to a free trade area. The Tenth SAARC Summit (Colombo, 29-31 July 1998) decided to set up a Committee of Experts (COE) to draft a comprehensive treaty framework for creating a free trade area within the region, taking into consideration the asymmetries in development within the region and bearing in mind the need to fix realistic and achievable targets.

The Agreement on South Asian Free Trade Area (SAFTA), drafted by the COE, was signed on 6 January 2004 during the Twelfth SAARC Summit in Islamabad. The Agreement entered into force on 1 January 2006.

• Agreement on SAFTA
• Annex-I of SAFTA Agreement - Sensitive Lists of Member States
  • Afghanistan - Revised Sensitive list
  • Bangladesh - Revised Sensitive List for LDCs
  • Bangladesh - Revised Sensitive List for NON-LDCs
  • Bhutan - Revised Sensitive list
  • India - Revised Sensitive List for LDCs
  • India - Revised Sensitive list for Non- LDCs
  • Maldives - Revised Sensitive List
  • Nepal - Revised Sensitive List for LDCs
  • Nepal - Revised Sensitive List for Non LDCs
  • Pakistan - Revised Sensitive List
  • Sri Lanka - Revised Sensitive List
• Annex-II of SAFTA Agreement -Technical Assistance for LDCs
• Annex-III of SAFTA Agreement - Mechanism for Compensation of Revenue Loss for LDCs
• Annex-IV of SAFTA Agreement - SAFTA Rules of Origin
  • Product Specific Rules (Anx A of Annex-IV of SAFTA Agreement)
  • Operational Certification Procedure (Anx-B of Annex-IV of SAFTA Agreement) with Appendix 1&2