Trade dispute: Consultation under way to draft law

Feedback from ambassadors posted in 170 countries.

FAISALABAD: The Trade Dispute Resolution Organisation (TDRO) has started consultation for drafting a viable trade dispute law to deal with the increase in rows in the wake of rise in imports and exports.

TDRO Director General Robina Taufiq Shah, during her visit to the Faisalabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FCCI), urged the chamber and other trade organisations to play a proactive role in making the law comprehensive, effective and business-friendly.

She explained in detail the chronology of trade disputes in Pakistan and said initially the chief controller of imports and exports was the only regulator with arm-twisting powers. That organisation was abandoned by Nawaz Sharif during his previous government to facilitate importers and exporters, but later it created regulatory problems.

A new law was then proposed with sufficient powers for the proposed regulatory body to streamline imports and exports by resolving the trade disputes.

“With the increase in volumes of trade, some unscrupulous elements entered the field with ‘suitcase’ businesses. They brought a bad name to the country,” she said, adding after a long struggle, the TDRO was established in 2014 and Javedul Hassan Qureshi was appointed its first director general.

“We have also consulted our ambassadors posted in 170 countries to get their feedback and suggestions to make this law comprehensive and to synchronise it with international laws.”

She welcomed a proposal to sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the FCCI, saying the TDRO had already inked an agreement with the National Centre for Dispute Resolution for holding consultation with relevant stakeholders.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 29^th, 2015.

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