The Agreement on South Asian Free Trade Area (SAFTA) aims at further enhancing the programme of regional economic integration through promotion of preferential trade, which commenced with the establishment of SAPTA. All countries completed the respective Trade Liberalization Program (TLP) under the Phase I and II of SAFTA, i.e. brought down tariffs to a level between 0-5 percent on all products other than those in the respective Sensitive Lists. Sri Lanka has been accorded a Special treatment in Rules of Origin under SAFTA.
Discussions on further reduction of Sensitive Lists under Phase III of SAFTA, a proposal of Fast Tracking reduction of SAFTA Sensitive List (reducing peak tariff on all products to 0 - 5% by the year 2020, excluding a small number of about 100 tariff lines) and implementation related matters under SAFTA are ongoing.
SAFTA - at a glance
| Date of signing of the agreement | Date of coming into effect | Members | Negotiation approach | Products coverage |
| 06th January 2004 |
01st January 2006 |
India,Pakistan,Sri Lanka,Afganistan,Bangaladesh,Bhutan |
Negative List | All products other than those are in the *sensitive list of the respective member state |
*Sensitive Lists under SAFTA
| Member State |
|
| Afghanistan | 850 |
| Bangladesh | 987 (LDCs) / 993 (NLDCs) |
| Bhutan | 156 |
| India | 25 (LDCs) / 614 (NLDCs) |
| Maldives | 154 |
| Nepal | 998 (LDCs) / 1,036 (NLDCs) |
| Pakistan | 936 |
| Sri Lanka |
925 (LDCs) / 1,058 (NLDCs) |
Rules of Origin Criteria (RoO) under SAFTA applicable to Sri Lanka – at a glance
|
Wholly obtained products |
Not Wholly obtained products With Sufficient working or processing |
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|
Value Addition |
+ |
Change in HS classification |
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|
√ |
General Rule |
OR |
Cumulative Rule |
CTH OR CTSH under PSR |
|
|
35% < DVA OR PSR |
50% < RAC AND 20% < DVA |
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|
DVA = Domestic Value Addition |
|
RAC = Regional Aggregate content |
|
PSR = Product Specific Rules |
|
CTH = Change in Tariff Heading |
|
CTSH = Change in Tariff Sub-Heading |
Statistical Analysis
Sri Lanka’s country wise exports and imports under SAFTA
|
|
Value in US$ Mn |
|||||||||
|
Country |
2017 |
2018 |
2019 |
2020 |
2021 |
|||||
|
|
Exports |
Imports |
Exports |
Imports |
Exports |
Imports |
Exports |
Imports |
Exports |
Imports |
|
Afghanistan |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
|
Bangladesh |
5.98 |
0.18 |
4.25 |
0.17 |
8.33 |
0.60 |
5.75 |
0.55 |
10.87 |
2.40 |
|
Bhutan |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
|
India |
34.65 |
5.79 |
30.47 |
5.27 |
46.62 |
5.78 |
35.88 |
3.57 |
89.52 |
5.26 |
|
Maldives |
0.03 |
- |
0.03 |
- |
0.05 |
- |
0.15 |
- |
0.29 |
- |
|
Nepal |
0.29 |
- |
0.15 |
- |
0.04 |
- |
0.09 |
- |
0.70 |
- |
|
Pakistan |
0.13 |
0.01 |
0.44 |
0.02 |
0.86 |
0.01 |
0.38 |
0.00 |
0.27 |
- |
|
Total |
41.08 |
5.97 |
35.34 |
5.46 |
55.89 |
6.39 |
42.25 |
4.13 |
101.64 |
7.65 |
|
Source: Sri Lanka Custom |
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Sri Lanka’s product wise exports under SAFTA
|
Value in US$ Mn |
||||||||
|
HS |
Description |
2017 |
2018 |
2019 |
2020 |
2021 |
Change in 2021 over 2020 (%) |
Share in 2021 (%) |
|
090411 |
Pepper of the genius piper, Light berries of pepper |
33.35 |
26.86 |
17.32 |
23.51 |
72.48 |
208.32 |
71.31 |
|
080111 |
Coconut Desiccated |
0.18 |
1.76 |
27.06 |
10.10 |
13.64 |
34.99 |
13.42 |
|
761290 |
Aluminum casks, drums, cans |
5.15 |
3.71 |
6.40 |
3.82 |
8.73 |
128.63 |
8.59 |
|
Other |
2.40 |
3.01 |
5.11 |
4.82 |
6.79 |
41.04 |
6.68 |
|
|
Total |
41.08 |
35.34 |
55.89 |
42.25 |
101.64 |
140.59 |
100.00 |
|
|
Source: Sri Lanka Custom |
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Sri Lanka’s exports to India under SAFTA
|
Value in US$ Mn |
||||||||
|
HS |
Description |
2017 |
2018 |
2019 |
2020 |
2021 |
Change in 2021 over 2020 (%) |
Share in 2021 (%) |
|
090411 |
Pepper of the genius piper, Light berries of pepper |
33.35 |
26.86 |
17.32 |
23.51 |
72.48 |
208.32 |
80.96 |
|
080111 |
Coconut Desiccated |
0.18 |
1.76 |
27.04 |
10.10 |
13.64 |
34.99 |
15.24 |
|
Other |
1.12 |
1.85 |
2.26 |
2.27 |
3.40 |
50.26 |
3.80 |
|
|
Total |
34.65 |
30.47 |
46.62 |
35.88 |
89.52 |
149.52 |
100.00 |
|
|
Source: Sri Lanka Custom |
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