Pakistan Cabinet today unanimously approved a proposal to switch over to a negative list regime for trade with India and phase it out by the year-end as part of measures to fully normalise bilateral economic ties.
A meeting of the Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister, Mr Yousuf Raza Gilani, “unanimously approved the phasing out of the negative list” regime between Pakistan and India by December, said a brief statement issued by the Premier’s office.
“After that (phasing out of the negative list), the process of trade normalisation between the two countries will be completed,” the statement said.
Sources told PTI that the Cabinet had approved the introduction of a negative list with slightly more than 1,200 items that cannot be traded with India. The move will allow Pakistan to import some 6,800 items from India.
Pakistan currently allows the import from India of a little more than 1,950 items that are included in a positive list.
The Commerce Ministry had finalised a smaller negative list of 636 items but this list was abandoned due to opposition from several stakeholders, including the Textiles and Industries Ministries, which wanted greater protection from Indian imports.
Following further consultations since the last Cabinet meeting a fortnight ago, the Commerce Ministry expanded the negative list to slightly over 1,200 items.