NTC restructured, can now take suo motu notice

Commission has been further empowered by amending trade and customs laws

ISLAMABAD: The National Tariff Commission (NTC) would have powers to take suo motu notice of certain issues pertaining to dumping of goods under its new laws, said Federal Minister for Commerce Khurram Dastgir while speaking at a press conference on Monday.

The minister said the NTC was now fully functional after revamping of its structure and provision of required human, financial and technical resources.

He pointed out that the commission had been further empowered with amendments to trade and customs laws which were passed by parliament and that would defend Pakistan’s trade interests.

The commission comprises five members including its chairman. “The NTC will play its independent and executive role in the dumping and countervailing matters being faced by the Pakistani industry.”

The minister said the commission would also give its opinion on tariff and policymaking matters.

“In certain cases, the commission will also have powers to take suo motu notice if deemed necessary,” he said.

He mentioned the NTC had not played its due role in the past and that was one of the reasons that its structure and laws had been revamped.

The minister said the budget for the commission had been doubled with maximum number of its members so that there would not be issue of quorum at any time in the absence of one or two members.

Various responsibilities

He said the NTC would also conduct research on certain relevant issues and would guide the ministry in different policymaking matters.

Talking about under-invoicing, the minister said the issue did not come directly under the NTC jurisdiction. However, the government has taken up this issue with some countries, particularly with China.

“Both the countries have agreed to rely on electronic data exchange to end this issue,” he said.

To another question, the minister said the recent convoy of over 100 containers, the first batch of consignments under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), was allowed under a special arrangement without transit fee in the absence of a transit trade agreement between the two countries. In the future, once the volume of trade increases, the two sides will sign a special transit agreement.

Responding to a question on trade with India, the minister said there was no major change in the trade regime. However, he said, no optimism prevailed as far as trade promotion in future was concerned.

NTC Chairman Qasim Niaz said after increasing the number of members from three to five, there would not be any quorum issue in the future. He mentioned that the NTC had already started functioning and it would continue without any hindrance.

He advised the industry to approach the NTC for addressing their grievances on anti-dumping and countervailing issues.

Talking about pending cases, he said, there are cases of 16 products against 32 countries in addition to cases of five products against 19 countries.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 8^th, 2016.

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