By NNN-APP
New Delhi : Indian Minister of State for Commerce Jairam Ramesh said India would phase out non-tariff barriers with SAARC countries as they had been proving an irritant in trade relations.
His Ministry was working out to identify the barriers and removing them as far as possible, he said.
The Indian daily “The Hindu” quoting the Minister from Male where he is holding negotiations with representatives of the Maldives government said the India had recently taken a decision to waive the stipulation for testing and certification of products by Indian laboratories as a precondition for imports to India.
“Instead of testing and certification by the Indian entities, it will now be enough if the job is done by laboratories in the SAARC countries accredited by the Bureau of Indian Standards,” he said Thursday.
“Wherever possible, we will remove such barriers. In cases where they cannot be removed, we will try to make the entire process less cumbersome and transparent,” he said.
The Minister said India was trying to put the new mechanism in place before the next SAARC summit in Colombo.