Rawalpindi, (Parliament Times): The Rawalpindi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (RCCI) has organized an awareness session on the Developing Countries Trading Scheme (DCTS). The scheme was aimed to facilitate stakeholders and businessmen to diversify their export-oriented businesses in the UK.
Senior Trade Policy Advisor of the British High Commission Fabian Hartwell who was the keynote speaker and had an interactive session with members, entrepreneurs and representatives of different trade sectors.
President RCCI Saqib Rafiq, Senior Vice President Muhammad Hamza Sarosh, Vice President Faisal Shahzad, executive committee members, and members were also present on the occasion.
Fabian Hartwell informed the participants that DCTS will come into effect in early 2023. The DCTS will support sustainable growth in developing countries through a generous unilateral offer, he added.
He further elaborated that the DCTS applies to countries that currently benefit under the UK’s Generalised Scheme of Preferences (GSP). The GSP includes 47 countries in the GSP Least Developed Country (LDC) Framework and 18 additional countries or territories classified by the World Bank as low income (LIC) and lower-middle income (LMIC).
Under the DCTS, Pakistan will continue to benefit from duty-free exports to the UK. In addition, the DCTS will remove tariffs on over 156 additional products. It will also simplify some seasonal tariffs, meaning additional and simpler access for Pakistan’s exports to the UK.
Total trade (goods and services) between the UK and Pakistan each year currently stands £2.9bn. In total, 94% of goods exported from Pakistan will be eligible for duty-free access to the UK. Pakistan will save £120m in tariffs on exports to the UK under the scheme.