The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has signed the first batch of five (5) unilateral Advance Pricing Agreements (APA) here today. The agreements cover a period of five (5) years from AY 2014-15 to AY 2018-19 and specify the arm’s length price for the covered international transactions entered into by the taxpayers. These agreements cover a range of international transactions, including interest payments, corporate guarantees, non -binding investment advisory services and contract manufacturing. The agreements pertain to different industrial sectors including pharmaceuticals, telecom, exploration and financial services. The agreements provide a complete certainty to the taxpayers for five (5) years with regard to the covered international transactions. The APA programme came into effect on 1st  July 2012 and the first batch of 146 APA applications was received in March 2013. The CBDT has been able to conclude the first set of agreements within a period of one (1) year as against the internationally accepted norm of at least 2 years.