LAHORE - The All Pakistan Cement Manufacturers Association has asked government to take up non-tariff barriers issue with India, as unutilised capacity of cement industry in Pakistan can effectively be exploited through exports to India, which has reported decline of 15.7 per cent in the first quarter of current fiscal year.A spokesman of APCMA said in a statement that government must persuade cement industry’s case which has been facing problems due to Non-Tariff Barriers in India despite increasing demand. He said that cement is one of the industries having potential to help bridging gap between volumes of trade between two countries in which Pakistan’s exports are far less than potential.Hence, it will be a win-win situation for both countries in future if their exports are level and local industries are encouraged to meet the demand of each other’s market through their strong sectors, he added.The spokesman urged that both governments should avail opportunity and strengthen each other, as Pakistan is best cement provider to India having lots of demand in the construction sector while its production units are running full capacity. It is an irony that Pakistan liberalised its trade with India last year short-listing few items in the negative list but Indian government, on the other hand, has not fulfilled its promise to withdraw all non-tariff trade barriers, causing hurdles in the free flow of trade between the two countries.The exports to India have registered decline of 15.67 per cent in the first quarter of current fiscal year, standing at 137,742 tons versus 163,340 tons exports volume of the yesteryear’s same period, said Aizaz Mansoor Sheikh Chairman APCMA. Sheikh said that Pakistan’s cement is preferred by Indians because of high quality and cement sector was expecting a quantum jump of at least 0.5 million tons in last fiscal on easing of NTBs by India but it did not happen.Exports to India, in fact, have been on constant decline ever since the two countries opened their borders for liberal bilateral trade. The decline is not due to lack of cement demand in India but because of very stringent non-tariff barriers erected by our neighbor,” he said.Cement exporters having potential to export a big quantity to Indian market are facing a strict resistance by Indian government as NTB are not removed even after having been specifically mentioned during different rounds of official and unofficial talks between the two countries.The complicated process of quality certificate holds on cement exports of many companies, he mentioned. The procedures have not been eased by the Indians and the certification cost is very high as the exporters have to bear heavy expenses for the visit and stay over of Indian inspectors. Cement manufacturers said that Pakistan should cement trade ties with India on equality basis rather than giving easy access to Indian company in the exchange of nothing in the presence of NTBs.