Businessmen irked by culture of stay orders

Say the legal recourse disrupts economy; fear worsening of situation.

LAHORE: Several sections of the industrial sector have urged the government to rectify key loopholes in the National Tariff Commission (NTC) reforms bill by making modalities and addressing the prime concerns of stay orders.

According to officials privy to the development, concerns were expressed to the NTC over the issue of stay orders. Representatives of the business community said stay orders under article 199 are termed as major obstacles for economic development and there is a larger fear that this may worsen. To present their case further, they highlighted different cases to support their proposition.

Sources mentioned that around 176 instances of court interventions in NTC investigations had adversely affected the sector. “Many cases have already damaged the industry and some of them are still pending and creating havoc with the manufacturing base,” said the business community.

“Local industries since the last decade have faced considerable competition for imported goods, most of which are considered to be dumped at extremely low rates, resulting in closure of several small factories,”noted Elixir Securities Head of Research Taha Khan Javed.

The investigation, as per WTO rules, is time sensitive which makes it even more important for the authorities to wrap it up within the prescribed timeframe, he added.

In most cases, importers start taking stay orders as soon as the NTC gives a decision, in a bid to buy time because, as per the WTO agreement, a case that remains unresolved for 18 months will be considered null and void.

As per the new rules, the appellate tribunal will entertain appeals from aggrieved parties regarding imposition of anti-dumping duties, countervailing duties and safeguard measures.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 2^nd,  2015.

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