Used lube oil import: MoC bigwigs grilled by National Assembly panel

The National Assembly's Standing Committee on Commerce has grilled the Commerce Ministry's top brass for allowing the import of 10 million tons of banned used lube oil/furnace oil reportedly to a Multan-based fake company without prior due diligence.
A MNA from Balochistan was reportedly behind this lucrative deal which was later revised to 50,000 tons. The committee headed by Engineer Khurram Dastgir Khan held its first meeting in the committee room of the Commerce Ministry to question the responsible officials of the ministry.
Ideal Trading Company has imported 29.6 tons of used lube oil/furnace oil so far due to strict conditions set by the Commerce Ministry after this issue was highlighted by Business Recorder. "The Ministry of Commerce has violated due process in issuing a special authorisation to import 10 million tons of banned waste lube worth millions of dollars. The ministry officials shirked and failed to investigate the spurious petitioning company, which lacks bona fide credentials," said Khurram Dastgir while questioning the officials.
Interestingly, none of the officials who issued special permission were present in the meeting and therefore did not witness the difficulties faced by Commerce Secretary, Zafar Mahmood in responding to the questions. The committee recommended that import of hazardous material be stopped at once.
The ministry officials briefed the committee that import of waste lube oil is banned under the international Basel Convention and only the minister has the authority to lift the ban. Signature of the minister is required to lift the ban, said the Secretary Commerce.
The chairman pointed out that the alleged use of waste lube was for brick kilns, whose annual usage of waste is less than 20 percent of the amount that the ministry sanctioned. The extraordinary amount sanctioned raises suspicions that diesel might be imported under the guise of waste lube for windfall gains at the expense of the public exchequer. "These irregularities point towards abuse of political influence and callous indifference to environment," said Khurram.
The committee members observed with alarm that the ministry had issued authorisation letter without the required signature and written approval of the minister. "The ministry failed to check the credentials of the company, which was later found to have neither a physical office nor telephone at the given address," Dastgir maintained. The Secretary Commerce admitting the ministry's liability pledged that such dereliction of duty would not recur. He also acknowledged that the quality of used lube was not in accordance with the specifications.
The committee recommended that import of waste lube oil be stopped forthwith and directed the Secretary Commerce to ensure that the ministry should be scrupulous when allowing exceptions to the banned list, especially concerning hazardous materials. The committee also started an investigation into the import of waste plastics in the context of health and environmental concerns and the world-wide scare over hazardous plastics in Chinese toys.
The committee approved unanimously the proposed Institute of Fashion Design Bill, 2010 after incorporating amendments that strengthened the oversight role of the federal government over the Institute. MNAs Mrs Kashmala Tariq, Hamid Hiraj, Haji Akram Ansari, Mrs Shireen Khan, Nawab Abdul Ghani Talpur, and Mrs Jamila Gilani attended the meeting.