The Thematic Regional Committee formed as per the regional agreement is working to expedite the basis for the criteria to set the standard of goods.
The criteria to be enforced in the SAARC region will be finalized by the governing board based on the recommendation of the Thematic Committee, said member of the Board and Deputy Director General of the Department of Standards and Metrology, Biswa Babu Pudasaini.
The standard is likely to come into force from 2013 and the member states are working to maintain the regional standard accordingly, Pudasaini said.
The first phase of the standardization shall include edible and agriculture products, electronic and telecommunications equipment, cloth and leather, construction materials and chemicals.
As per an agreement reached in the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) Summit in Maldives in 2011, the headquarters of the regional body to determine, enforce and monitor the regional standard of various goods to be used in the SAARC-member countries would be based in Bangladesh.
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