National Tariff Commission (NTC) Chairman M Abbas Raza has said that the commission plans to introduce a 'protection policy' under which relevant laws and regulations will be defined to safeguard the interests of local industries. Speaking at a meeting during his visit to Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI), he said that the said policy would have a pre-defined timeline, starting from the concerned industry's internship to maturity period.
Businessmen Group Chairman and former KCCI President Siraj Kassam Teli, KCCI President Iftikhar Ahmed Vohra, Senior-Vice President KCCI Muhammad Ibrahim Kasumbi, Vice-President Agha Shahab Ahmed Khan, former President AQ Khalil and KCCI Managing Committee members attended the meeting.
Terming the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with China as a "very serious" issue, he opined that FTA with any country should be based on reciprocal business conditions and should be mutually advantageous for both the countries while the individual needs of the industry should also be kept in mind prior to finalising an FTA. He advised the business and industrial community to be more aggressive and proactive in sharing their opinion over signing of FTAs, otherwise the forthcoming FTAs with Turkey, Thailand and Korea might also create similar issues as being faced by the business community because of the FTA with China.
Referring to next round of negotiations on China-Pakistan FTA, the NTC Chairman informed that the Ministry of Commerce had asked NTC to provide a list of those items which should be excluded from the FTA. Therefore, around 800 items had been identified after thorough review under proper criteria which, NTC believed, should be removed, he added.
Raza further stated that four trade laws pertaining to National Tariff Commission had been formulated and would be implemented anytime soon after signing by the President of Pakistan. "Out of these four trade laws, the law pertaining to NTC structure has also been revised and the number of NTC members has been raised from the existing two to four members and a Chairman," he added.
He said that under the new laws, the functioning of NTC had also been enhanced with focus on assistance to domestic industry, improving competitiveness of domestic industry, rationalisation of tariff structures and removal of tariff anomalies etc. while changes had also been introduced in the existing anti-dumping laws. Under the new changes, raw materials solely used for export purposes which are included in DTRE would not be subjected to anti-dumping duty, he added.
He asked the KCCI to send their recommendations pertaining to budget to the NTC as early as possible so that these could be thoroughly analysed and incorporated in NTC's proposals for the federal budget. Speaking on the occasion, Teli advised the NTC Chairman to devise a system or create liaison between NTC and KCCI so that decisions affecting the businesses, industry, export and imports could be thoroughly discussed prior to implementation. The KCCI's comments should be sought by NTC prior to implementation of decisions which affect the business and industrial community, he added.
Vohra, while welcoming the NTC Chairman, pointed out that irrational tariff structures of products being imported and exported from Pakistan were terribly affecting trade and industry. In this regard, he particularly suggested that minimum tariffs should be applied on import of raw material in order to encourage local production and promote value addition in the larger interest of the country. Kasumbi, on the occasion, stressed to define proper timeline for those industries enjoying protection by NTC. Due to prolonged protective regime, thousands of downstream businesses were suffering grave losses and were unable to compete in the market, he added.
He said that due to expensive raw material, exorbitant taxes, discretionary powers of the FBR and high cost of doing business, the SME sector, which was the backbone of a country's economy, was dying in Pakistan and it desperately required serious attention.-PR
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