Kathmandu: Government representatives of the seven member regional body, SAARC finalized the drafts of two agreements to be signed in the upcoming summit providing for a regional customs co-operation to check import duty evasion and forgery, and allowing exchange scholars to earn tax-free up to $3,000 a year, reports said.

One of the documents, the draft Multilateral Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement covering 14 areas, was finalised in Islamaba. Similarly, officials belonging to seven South Asian nations gave shape to the Agreement on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Customs Matters simultaneously in New Delhi.

The 13th SAARC Summit due to be held in the Bangaldeshi capital of Dhaka on January 9-11, 2005 is expected to adopt the agreements, which are likely to be put into effect from January 2006, Dhaka-based newspaper, Daily Star, reported last Monday.