The Federal Government has decided to formulate a comprehensive policy/ criteria to curb import of sub-standard solar equipment and take steps to ensure that the country does not become a dumping ground for sub-standard solar equipment.

The decision was taken at the recent meeting of Federal Cabinet during ratification of the ECC decision taken on a summary of Commerce Division titled "Implementation of the quality standards on the import of solar PV equipment under SRO 604(1)/ 2019."

During the discussion, it was suggested that while granting Special Economic Zone (SEZ) status, technology related industries should not be assessed on the basis of acreage. The government must also take steps to ensure that the country does not become a dumping ground for sub-standard solar equipment.

The Cabinet decided that the Prime Minister's Office will organize a separate brain storming session on the matters related to the SEZ criteria for technology companies.

On November 1, 2019, the Commerce Division, in its summary informed the ECC that the Federal Cabinet on September 17,2015 approved the summary of Water and Power (now Ministry of Energy) regarding the "introduction of quality standards for import of solar PV equipment into Pakistan and directed the erstwhile Ministry of Water and Power to complete requisite formalities for adoption and enforcement of international standards for import of solar Photo Voltaic (PV) equipment in consultation with the Ministry of Science and Technology and other concerned Divisions/ Departments.

Following consultations with the concerned Divisions/ Departments, Commerce Division issued SRO 604(1)/ 2019 on May 28, 2019 to implement the decision of the Cabinet.

After implementation of the SRO, a number of shipments got stuck at the ports and the importers complained of lack of clarity amongst the stakeholders, pre-shipment companies and border agencies regarding the documentation requirements under SRO 604.

In order to resolve the issue, the Commerce Division convened an inter-ministerial meeting of the stakeholders on August 5, 2019 which was attended by the representatives of Power Division, AEDB, Pakistan National Accreditation Council (PNAC), Pakistan Standard and Quality Control Authority (PSQCA) and importers of the solar PV equipment etc.

The following was agreed in the meeting :(i) AEDB will draft a " flow diagram" in consultation with the concerned stakeholders, clearly indicating the process, procedure and documentary requirements for the import of consignments ;(ii) flow diagram will be circulated by the Commerce Division for the guidance of border agencies and pre-shipment inspection companies ;(iii) Commerce Division will issue a clarification that the PSQCA will ensure compliance of the quality standards, as required under the SRO by inspecting a certain percentage of shipments selected through random sampling or risk profiling, instead of mandatory inspection/ certification and ;(iv) a summary will be submitted to the ECC seeking approval of an appropriate extension in the implementation of the SRO 604(1)/2019 in order to enable the release of shipments stuck up at ports.

The Commerce Division further stated that in view of the case, it sought approval of the Prime Minister as Minister-in-Charge of the Commerce Division for submission of the summary with the proposal that the implementation of the SRO 604 of May 28, 2019 may be extended till August 31, 2019. The Prime Minister Office telephonically directed the Commerce Division to resolve the issue of stuck up containers immediately and submit a summary for the ex-post facto approval of the ECC. In compliance, Commerce Division requested ECC for ex-post facto approval of the summary.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2019