National Assembly of Pakistan has unanimously passed the Trade Organization (Amendment) Bill, 2022, in its ongoing session. The bill was presented in the National Assembly by the Federal Minister for Commerce Syed Naveed Qamar after the adoption of the bill in its final form by the Standing Committee on Trade and Commerce.According to the statements of objects and reasons, the trade organizations (TOs) are regulated under the Trade Organizations Act-2013.

The act and its subsequent rules aim at defining the purpose, role, responsibility and operational framework including the code of corporate governance for TOs and their related matters. The Trade Organizations Act-2013 has given certain functions and powers to the federal government. These functions and powers are related to the regulation of operational matters of TOs.

Therefore, it is considered appropriate by the standing committee on trade and commerce that such functions and powers are delegated to the Commerce Division or the Regulator of Trade Organization. The main objective of the Trade Organizations (Amendment) Bill-2022 is to hand over the operational matters of the TOs to the relevant sub-branches of the government. This will reduce the burden from the federal government and also increase the efficiency of service provision in the hands of relevant departments.

The bill also provides for a one-year increase in the tenure of the office-bearers of trade organizations. The tenure of office bearers has been increased from one to two years so that office-bearers could get enough time to implement their agendas. Amendments in the trade bill of 2013 will help in the timely resolution of issues faced by TOs by the Directorate General of Trade Organization and Commerce Division.

Credit : Independent News Pakistan-WealthPk