The SAARC members have till now finalised tariff concessions on about 2,500 products out of estimated 6,000 items since SAPTA became operational in 1995. Members said that there was pressing need for speeding up SAPTA negotiations to work out deeper preferential tariff concession on products which were being actively traded among the SAARC member countries, official sources said.

Discriminatory practices, non tariff barriers and structural impediments must be removed simultaneously, members said.

Lengthy discussions took place over the domestic content requirements under the rules of origin, which they wanted to besubstantially reduced. Though SAPTA was broadly aimed at providing tariff concessions among all member states, was also formed to enable for the smaller SAARC members to enter the vast Indian markets.

But a clause in rules of origin insisting that only products having 50 per cent manufacturing base in their respective countries were eligible for tariff concessions became an irritant as most of these countries do not have much of production facilities. These countries thus want origin of production clause to be reduced to 25 per cent.

The foreign secretary level talks, slated to end today, also have to decide on recommendations to operationalise the South Asian Free Trade Area, (SAFTA) by 2001, as decided by SAARC heads of the state last year at Male.

After SAPTA's slow progress, the eminent persons group appointed to work out a blue print for the development of SAARC in the next millennium, has suggested the postponement of SAFTA from 2001 to 2008.