'Poorly' drafted proposed law: Commerce Division faces embarrassing situation

Commerce Division on Monday faced an embarrassing situation on the "poorly" drafted Trade Dispute Resolution Act 2018, after the National Assembly Standing Committee on Commerce and Textile pointed out several inappropriately written clauses of the Act.
The last meeting of the incumbent standing committee was presided over by its Chairman Siraj Muhammad Khan, who recently joined PML (N) after quitting PTI.
According to the draft Trade Dispute Resolution Act 2018, the status of the organisation will be upgraded to the Commission comprising five members including Chairman, of which two members each will be taken from public and private sectors respectively.
The purpose of the Commission is to establish a comprehensive regime in Pakistan for swift and effective resolution of disputes relating to the export and import of goods, services, E-Commerce (export and import).
The objectives of the Commission would be: (i) improvement of Pakistan's standing internationally; (ii) protection of all trading interest; (iii) improve Pakistan's rankings on international economic indices; (iv) promote international trade; and (v) align trade governance with international best practices (WTO & UNCITRAL) models.
Commerce Division had proposed that the Chairman of the Commission be a retired judge. However, the Commerce Division's team headed by Additional Secretary Akbar Bhati changed its stance when the committee Chairman and other members opposed it by challenging why a retired judge was being given preference over other retired bureaucrats.
Commerce Division's Additional Secretary acceded to the proposal of the committee, saying that it's a draft Act, which can be altered in the light of recommendations of the committee.
One of the committee members, Shazia Marri, also proposed the word Chairman should be substituted with Chairperson aimed at giving equal opportunity to women. She also pointed out other shortcomings in the draft Act including the clause related to recruitment of the physically disabled. The criterion to hire experts from private sector was also challenged. Commerce Division was also directed to make BA the education requirement for a member instead of MA. The committee also argued that appellate authority should be with the Commission instead of a High Court.
Additional Secretary Commerce maintained that it was a first draft which can be improved with the guidance of the committee, promising that the next drat would be far better than the existing one, which would be presented to the new standing committee probably after August 2018.
Director General, Intellectual Property Organisation (IPO), Pakistan, Irfan Tarar informed the committee that in compliance with the decision of Standing Committee TDAP Peshawar has agreed to provide office space. Accordingly, office in Peshawar is being established. One official is currently under training and one senior officer will supervise the work during the first phase on a weekly basis.
He further informed the committee that regional office in Quetta will also be established on these lines in due course. For this purpose Quetta Chamber of Commerce and Industry has already been approached.
According to Irfan Tarar, draft IPO rules were forwarded on December 13, 2017 currently being reviewed by Establishment and Finance Divisions before notification by the federal government.
According to the official statement, for complaint resolution, IPO has established Anti-Piracy and Anti-Counterfeiting Cells at Islamabad, Lahore and Karachi. IPO is actively coordinating with IP tribunals, Islamabad, Karachi and Lahore for timely disposal of IP cases. The Committee desired IPO to finalize its rules at the earliest.
The committee considered the petition, filed by Royal Group, for promotion of the pharmaceutical exports to non-traditional markets. Pharmaceutical sector plays a vital role in manufacturing sector by generating employment and attracting investment. Despite a declining trend in the overall exports, pharmaceutical exports have registered an increase of 26% over the last 5 years from US $ 169.6 million (2012-13) to US $ 213 million (2016-17). They invited attention of the Committee towards the following grievances: (i) their customs rebate has not been paid for the last 5 years; and (ii) payment of sales tax is pending for the last 3 years.
A representative of Royal Group presented his petition before the committee, seeking help for release of refunds stuck for the last five years, besides seeking other incentives on imported raw materials etc as non- traditional exports.
Chairman Standing Committee asked the representative of Royal Group to send his workings on refunds to him which he will onsend to the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) for early payment.
The officials of Commerce Division asked the company to send its representation to the Commerce Division to consider it for the Strategic Trade Policy Framework (STPF) 2018-23.
The meeting was attended by MNAs Tahira Aurangzeb, Nazir Ahmed Bughio, Shazia Marri, Mussarat Ahmad Zeb, Sajida Begum, Dr Fouzia Hameed, Sanjay Perwani, and senior officers of the concerned Division/Departments.