Following promulgation of Trade Organisations Ordinance (TOO) 2007, Ministry of Commerce has extended date of applications for chambers and trade bodies registration from June 15 to June 30.
The ministry on Tuesday announced that it would not further extend the date of submitting applications. The application form revised fee schedule and the list of documents to be attached with the application are available with the concerned section of the ministry.
The ministry is already receiving applications from trade organisations and chambers for grant of licence under the new law. Now the chambers and trade organisations will have sufficient time to file their application with the Commerce ministry for registration.
TOO 2007, has been a bitter controversy between the government and trade bodies, in particular, the Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI). However after a series of meetings Commerce Minister Humayun Akhtar Khan managed to bring FPCCI ruling group, Businessmen panel, on board.
Later on, he arranged a meeting between, Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz and FPCCI bigwigs Tariq Sayeed, Iftikhar Ali Malik and Tanvir Shaikh in Islamabad to find an amicable solution to the controversy.
The new law accepted the right of small trade organisations and chambers by reducing membership to enable them to play their role in the economic and trade activities. It also cut down registration fee for trade bodies and chambers to ensure that it does not become a burden on them in the future.
The period of two year for FPCCI president Tanvir Shaikh and other office bearers and for next term for Sindh was endorsed in the new law.
FPCCI is encouraging the trade bodies and chambers to get registered with the Ministry of Commerce within the given deadline. FPCCI has setup facilitation centre at its head office and appointed legal expert to provide the chambers and trade bodies guidance for registration under the new law.