The issues that still remain major hurdles for implementing the pact include trade disputes between India and Pakistan, delay in formulation of rules of origin certification and non-tariff barriers, they said.

The Saarc member countries reached a decision on implementation of the Safta pact from January I this year, although the deal was inked on January 1, 2004.

But any trade under the agreement has not come into effect yet, the sources lamented, fearing that chances of its implementation within the next six months are grim.

The Safta pact has facilitated trading among the member-states of the 7-nation regional group, South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation, on all items except those in their respective negative lists.

But India has raised the question that Pakistan would import only a limited number of products from India under its positive list, according to some officials of the commerce ministry.

"India will put up the matter at the next Safta Ministerial Council (SMC) meeting, due in next year", a high official of the ministry said, predicting that a hassle-free trade under the Safta pact would not be possible by this year unless the Indo-Pak issue is resolved.

He said although the Safta committee of experts will hold a meeting next month to revise the non-tariff barrier issue, any discussion on the Indo-Pak issue before the next SMC meeting is unlikely.

Meanwhile, India thinks Pakistan's decision to trade with India on only a few number of items under the positive list is contrary to the spirit of the free trade pact. Pakistan is learnt to have also not allowed India any access to its market.

As the Indo-Pak issue remains unresolved, formulation of rules of origin certificate is being delayed, which is considered to be another barrier, leaving the process of Safta implementation into uncertainty.

"Saarc member countries are yet to prepare their product identification certificate or rules of origin certificate paper," the commerce ministry official expressed his dismay.

Talking to The Daily Star, Mir Nasir Hossain, president of Bangladesh Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI), said, " The Safta pact signatories should come forward to remove the existing barriers, especially individual barriers, as soon as possible so that all the Saarc member-countries can reap benefits from the deal."

Besides reducing non-tariff and para-tariff barriers, he said, political will is key to the effective implementation of the Safta deal.

The Safta deal suggests the group's developing countries--India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka--reduce their import tariffs ranging from zero to five percent in the next three years.

As per the decision in the last SMC meeting, these three developing countries should reduce their import tariffs to 40 percent for the least developing countries (LDCs) in the regional group by the year 2006.

"Import tariff concessions by the developing countries for the LDCs will not bring any trade benefits for us if all other related barriers are not solved within a short time, " the FBCCI president observed.