Impact on trade: Asian Bank analysing SPS and TBT issues for commerce ministry

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is undertaking a comprehensive study on the issues pertaining to sanitary/phyto-sanitary (SPS), Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT), and environmental and social compliance measures as envisaged under the World Trade Organisation (WTO) regime for the Ministry of Commerce (MoC).
The study will identify and analyse various SPS/TBT, environmental and social compliance measures, adopted by the major markets, especially by Pakistan's major trading partners.
It will also review and analyse the present status of compliance and assess progress on the recently completed or currently ongoing programmes and projects dealing with these issues.
An in-depth analysis will be carried out of the implications of these measures on Pakistan's imports and exports and or whether Pakistan's exports are being adversely affected by these measures.
Finally, the study will recommend measures and necessary steps to be taken by Pakistan to meet these challenges.
The ADB has hired the services of Dr Mohammad Akbar, who is an experienced trade economist with vast experience and knowledge of trade and the WTO-related issues, as a consultant to carry out this work.
Meanwhile, the Vice-President, Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) and incharge, WTO Resource Centre, Engr. M. A. Jabbar, described the failure of the fifth WTO ministerial conference, held in Cancun, as both matter of concern as well as blessings for Pakistan.
Addressing the participants of capacity-building programme for the officers of commerce and trade group on the main reasons for the failure, he said that it was a matter of concern because Pakistan had not been able to capitalise on the arrangements of regional trade agreements out-sourced from the WTO framework itself.
"It should be a matter for the country as the choice for us in the present situation is to claim the opportunities in multi-lateral trading system dominated by the most-favoured nation (MFN) concept," he said.
The claim that it was a blessing was also a tenable argument as the preparedness level to claim compliance was still short of evading charges of various natures from the rules of application by WTO framework, he said.
Continuing, he said that the Cancun failure was predetermined as the travel from Doha to Cancun lacked completion of negotiations and agreements set against deadlines.
The Doha development agenda itself based on 52 plus nine of public health paragraphs was squeezed and reduced to 32 paragraphs of the Cancun ministerial text, which had no mention of any work agreed to in terms of Doha development agenda, he said.
The FPCCI Vice-President said that China and India were heading towards growth of business beyond 10 billion dollars as forecast against mutual agreements.
The race for the RTAs was providing substitute for the WTO and Pakistan must accelerate its working towards the RTAs, besides continuing to remove its internal weaknesses, he said.