950819

Special committee recommendations

Export-related SROs

should be issued by EPB

RECORDER REPORT

FAISALABAD: The special committee on exports has recommended that all SROs pertaining to export, should be issued by the Export Promotion Bureau, in order to make the system more "transparent" by reducing the discretionary powers of the executive arm of the government.

In a report, which was presented to the Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, by its convenor Mian Mohammad Latif, Chairman Chenab Group of Companies, it was pointed out that international recession, demand and supply, damage to our cotton crop and extraordinary incentives given to their exporters by our competitor countries like India and China ranging from devaluation to tax holiday and subsidies are major factors which have damaged our export trade.

According to report, another impediment specified by the Export Task Force is the "lack of consistency in government policies and incentive packages for the export sector. In order to make the system more "transparent" by reducing the discretionary powers of the executive arm of the government to introduce changes in duties and tax structures, the Export Task Force had recommended that "executive orders or SROs should, only be issued on matters concerning the implementation of an act or policy approved by the cabinet".

The special committee stated that export being a highly technical subject, it would not be expedient or advisable, to bother the parliament or the cabinet, regarding its modalities. Issuance of too many SROs too late, especially about changes in duty and taxation structure during mid-term, tends to complicate things and do more harm than good.

To remove this impediment, the special committee on exports proposed a drastic change in policy. Major concern of the cabinet, or the parliament, for that matter, is to promote the national export drive without damaging any other section of our national economy. The special committee recommended that all SROs pertaining the export, should be issued by the chairman or vice-chairman EPB. Fully alive to the predicament of delayed action and "changing horses in mid stream" the government has clearly stipulated in its brief on trade policy for 1995-96 that "the basic framework for the 1994-95 trade policy would continue for a longer period to achieve objectives of adopting tariff measures instead of quantitative restrictions, and liberalizing controls to promote efficiency and competition."

The special committee observed that the overall performance of EPB, heretofore, has been far from satisfactory. Instead of the requisite missionary zeal, its officials and staff have become notorious for bureaucratic lethargy and procrastination, although the present chief Mian Habibullah is quite active and dynamic. EPB is the official mechanism which, if utilized judiciously and efficaciously, can play a pivotal role in the promotion of export. The committee emphasised the need for a whole new approach ranging from institutional overhaul to autonomisation.

The first and foremost duty of EPB should be to impart training to concerned persons and institutions. Training would commence with their own staff including the clerical staff, supervisors, executive officers and newly inducted officers superior services right up to the status of commercial counsellors and commercial secretaries. Training shall also have to be imparted to exporters and their staff, which is perhaps the most important part of the training programme, and rightly so. For this purpose, regular and periodic training courses, workshops and seminars should be organised at all the important business centres of Pakistan in collaboration with regional chambers of commerce and industry, export associations and leading exporters and industrialists of the area.