LAHORE - Chairman National Tariff Commission (NTC) Mohammad Abbas Raza has said that the new strategies are being evolved to facilitate local industry. He said that the Commission is actively working to improve the competitiveness of industry that would result in enhanced exports. He said that the business community should come forward and provide necessary data for the preparation of new tariff.
Addressing the LCCI, he said that the government has rightly abolished NTC Act-1990 because it had some flaws and lacunas and most importantly it had failed to address several issues concerning international trade.
He said that the domestic industry will not suffer any more as, no proceeding or decision of the commission will now be considered invalid on the basis of any flaw in the constitution of the commission.
He said that it will not be wrong to say that in last couple of decades, the dynamics of international trade have significantly changed. One cannot expect good things to happen in your favour just through signing free or preferential trade agreements.
He said that these agreements can just provide us openings to expand trade relations with other countries but in order to bring rationalization in tariff structures and address the ground realities, there has to be a strong backing of legal framework. I hope that NTC Ordinance 2015 will largely play its role in putting Pakistan at better place while negotiating tariff concessions in line with the WTO trade regime.
He said that new laws were a step in the right direction as changing global business environment had necessitated the need to safeguard domestic industry from unfair international practices. He said that the new laws are of international standards and will facilitate the business community and nascent domestic industry.
Speaking on the occasion, LCCI President Ijaz A. Mumtaz said that the business community welcomes the promulgation of the National Tariff Commission Ordinance - 2015, Anti-Dumping Duties Ordinance - 2015, Countervailing Duties Ordinance - 2015 and Safeguard Measures Ordinance (Amendment) - 2015. He said that it was the need of the hour to replace NTC Act-1990 with an updated ordinance.
He said that NTC will have to take necessary measures to deal with emerging global trends in a befitting manner. We expect that all your efforts will lead to improve the industrial competitiveness of the country particularly the export oriented industry.