The Senate Standing Committee on Commerce on Wednesday recommended certain amendments in the “Trade Organisation Bill, 2012”.
Chairing the meeting, Senator Haji Ghulam Ali said there were certain recommendations given by stakeholders regarding the bill which should be considered by the committee.
He said the committee had always wanted to promote business activities in the country by making effective legislation in the National Assembly and Senate.
The committee recommended that the name of district chamber should be associated with the name of its concerned district or the place where the chamber was being established.
It further recommended that the chambers be established only in districts and not in divisions.
“The presentation of associate sector or small businesses should be ensured and the division of small traders and corporate sector should be discouraged,” the committee advised.
The nomination for president of chambers should be on a rotational basis, one year from associate class and another year from the corporate sector, recommended the committee.
In addition, the committee recommended that the period of suspension of membership be reduced to 4 months from an existing 2 years, while a penalty of 50 percent fee should be imposed to those who did not pay the fee of the chamber in time.
Moreover, the nomination of president for the federation body would be on a rotational basis from each province for one year while the vice president would be nominated from province’s women chamber on a similar rotational basis.
The Director General Trade Organisation (DGTO) should not be replaced by the regulator, the committee recommended.
Secretary Commerce Munir Qureshi said the National Assembly (NA) committee on commerce and the ministry had taken all stakeholders into the confidence regarding the bill.
“The chambers should play a vital role for broadening the net base in the country which is beneficial for the government and the business community,” he added.
Committee member Islamuddin Shaikh told the meeting that if the name of province was given to the district chamber, it would overlap the concept of the name.
“The ministry should make such rules which negate the division of the business class and corporate class because it would not be manageable,” Ishaq Dar said in the meeting.
State Minister for Commerce Abbas Khan Afridi said, “The period of suspension of membership with chambers would be reduced as the member can contest election and in addition, can cast vote in the election”. The meeting was attended by Ishaq Dar, Islamuddin Shaikh, Ilyas Ahmed Bilour and Karim Ahmed Khawaja.
