WTO criticises government for subsidising agriculture sector, SRO ''culture''

The World Trade Organisation (WTO) has criticised Pakistan for over-protecting domestic auto industry, subsidising agriculture sector, issuance of SROs to protect local industry as well as information technology laws. This was stated by Yonov Frederick Agah, Deputy Director General, the WTO, at a seminar on Pakistan''s 4th Trade Policy Review held in Islamabad. Deputy DG WTO delivered a detailed speech on the issues being faced by the WTO.
The officials of the WTO also held a technical discussion with the officials of Commerce Ministry on trade policy 2012-15 and proposed trade policy measures to be announced in the coming weeks. Earlier, addressing the seminar, Commerce Minister Engineer Khurram Dastgir said that though Pakistan has entered a new phase of trying to secure development and enhanced trade ties through regional and bilateral trade connectivity; it is the disciplines of the WTO agreements that provide us with the standards as well as the legal bedrock for further trade openness and engagement. Seen in this context, the importance of the TPR as well as this seminar is heightened, he stated.
He said the government has gained insight and laid plans for future reforms, chiefly amongst them concerns of the membership on SROs, regulatory duties, certain import and export prohibitions, anti-dumping actions, notifications as well other matters. "Real reform is neither easy nor fast nor it should be; assuredly all current and future reforms will be well-paced, solid and inbuilt into Pakistan's economic system," he added.
Dastgir further stated that every successive Trade Policy Review (TPR) has led to better co-ordination with the allied Ministries. Information-sharing has generated a momentum for greater co-operation and opens up possibilities for further reform within the government. Commerce Minister stated that there are a few positive but strong developments that the government is proud of: (i) the nexus between transparency and the public sector and the government is in the process of incorporating the Convention against corruption into domestic legislation; (ii) the government's commitment to streamline more transparency into public procurement systems is evidenced by becoming an observer to the Government procurement agreement (GPA) at the WTO; (iii) on transparency and competition, Competition Commission of Pakistan is a success story; it has become a second tier protector of investment against cartelization. Major interventions in the automobile, private airline and energy sectors are a few instances to illustrate the commitment and vision of the government.
On an issue that generated a lot of debate in Geneva, ie the relationship between transparency and SROs - Pakistan has already given the undertaking to eliminate all discriminatory SROs granting tax exemptions by the end of the fiscal year 2016-2017.
"We have recently reclaimed $625 million worth of market access in a top export market through a bloodless victory through the WTOs dispute settlement system. Without this system, this effort and success would have been monumentally difficult," he added.