Six key products will soon be traded without hindrance in South Asia, now that the South Asian Regional Standards Organisation (Sarso) has set a regionally agreed standard for the goods.
Differences over product standards are considered one of the main non-tariff barriers to international trade.
The products are refined sugar, biscuit, Hessian products, cotton drill, cotton twill and jute twine.
Sarso Director General Syed Humayun Kabir said the organisation was planning to cooperate with the ISO and International Electronics Commission (IEC) so that regional products could be exported to any country without the need for lab testing.
"The text of the cooperation agreements has already been finalised and we hope to sign the deals with the international standard organisations in August or September,” Humayun said, adding that after the agreement, Sarso would be able to use the ISO standard.
"It usually takes three years to complete the standardisation process of a products but if ISO standards can be used, it will take just one year, he added.
About the six products, Humayun said: “We have finalised the standard of these products and hope to issue a formal notification by March. After the notification, products with a BSTI seal may be exported to any Saarc country without the need for a laboratory test."
The standards of a further five products is expected to be finalised by 2016, he added.
“We want to achieve and enhance coordination and cooperation among Saarc countries so that standards will not be a non-tariff barrier,” he said.
Sarso aims to develop harmonised standards for the region to facilitate intraregional trade and have access to the global market, he added.
Sarso is currently working on 47 products and circulating a survey questionnaire among member states in which they are requested to identify their top 10 imports and 10 exports among member states that require harmonisation of standards.