The Joint Sitting of the Parliament on Monday passed two bills including the Trade Organization (Amendment) Bill, 2023 and the Trade Dispute Resolution Bill, 2023 with certain amendments.
Both the bills were piloted by Minister for Commerce Syed Naveed Qamar in the House. The minister moved amendments which were accepted by the House.
Moving the Trade Organization (Amendment) Bill, 2023 in the House, Syed Naveed Qamar said that the bill aimed at extending the tenure of chambers of commerce and Industry and Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry from one year to two year.
The bill would streamline elections process for the Chambers and Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry, he said. He said now the elections would be held in same year.
The Trade Dispute Resolution Bill, 2023 provides for the establishment of a comprehensive regime in Pakistan for the swift and effective resolution of disputes relating to the export and import of goods and services including through E-Commerce.
The statement of objects and reasons of the Trade Dispute Resolution Bill, 2023 says that as Pakistan embarks upon trade liberalization and expansion so does the probability of the trade dispute arise between trading parties.
If left unsupervised and unguided, such disputes could lead to serious conflicts between governments in addition to damaging private sector business interests.
In absence of proper Trade Dispute Resolution Mechanism in Pakistan is adversely affecting its ranking in ease of doing business.
