SAARC prepares drafts for regional standards

An Expert Group Meeting of South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) member countries held in the Bangladeshi capital Dhaka finalised the texts of separate drafts on SAARC Agreements on Multilateral Arrangement on Recognition of Conformity Assessment and SAARC Agreement on Implementation of Regional Standards, SAARC Secretariat in Kathmandu said on Wednesday.

In the meeting hosted by the Bangladesh Standards and Testing Institution (BSTI), experts from national standard bodies from Bhutan, India, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka held deliberations on the text of two dossiers for two days, starting March 13.

After the authorities concerned in the respective countries vet the drafts, the Foreign Ministers of the SAARC countries are expected to sign on the agreements during the forthcoming SAARC Summit in Maldives later this year.

The signing of the two agreements will lay the ground for recognition of certificates and licenses and mutual inspection in respect of products and related services among the SAARC countries, the SAARC Secretariat said in a statement. “Hence the two agreements are expected to contribute towards trade facilitation among the SAARC countries.

Implementation of these two agreements will also enhance sharing of information between the institutions, exchange of expertise and development of SAARC Standards which would be adopted by the whole region.