US Deputy Counsellor for Economic Affairs Susan McFee on Thursday called on the Federal Minister for Textile Industry Abbas Khan Afridi, wherein they discussed implementation of international labour standards in Pakistan in detail. The Deputy Counsellor added that Pakistan was not the only country adversely affected by the labour standards certification. The country should immediately come up with a comprehensive strategy on labour standards in order to meet the ILO requirements.
The Federal Minister stated that the Ministry was already in consultation with the Ministries of Commerce and Finance on policy regarding labour standards and soon the federal government would finalise a comprehensive labour policy in collaboration with the provincial governments.
The Minister also raised the issue of ban by Walt Disney on textile imports from Pakistan and hoped that the company would provide some waiver as Pakistan was working diligently on labour issues, adding that in the upcoming textile policy special emphasis would be laid on the implementation of labour standards in the textile industry. The US Deputy Counsellor mentioned that US would support the measures by the government of Pakistan towards compliance with ILO standards. She apprised the minister that Pakistani textiles were preferred by the American companies.-PR