TDA-2022 to establish a comprehensive regime for trade dispute resolution

Published Fri, 10 Nov 2023,

By NNPS Desk

ISLAMABAD, Nov 10 (APP): The Trade Dispute Act of 2022 (TDA-2022), provided the establishment of a comprehensive regime in Pakistan for the swift and effective resolution of disputes relating to the exports and imports of goods and services including e-commerce trade.
Director General Trade Disputes Resolution Organization, Ministry of Commerce, Abdul Salam Shah on Friday told APP that the new law for the resolution of trade disputes was coming in the cabinet to define a time frame to resolve the different disputes of international trade through ‘The Trade Dispute Act 2022.’
Under the new law, trade disputes would be decided in a time frame for providing ‘Ease of Doing Business’ to the Import and export business, he said.
President of Faisalabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry Dr. Khurram Tariq, told APP that trade agreements must be strictly implemented.
Earlier, the joint sitting of the Parliament passed “The Trade Dispute Resolution Bill, 2023” to establish a commission attached with the Ministry of Commerce to settle the dispute between trading parties and “The Trade Organizations (Amendment) Bill, 2023”.
The House passed the Bill with a majority incorporating minor amendments.
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.
Clause 61 of the bill described as “All law enforcement agencies and authorities in the federal and the provinces shall be under an obligation to provide and render complete assistance to the Commission as and when the secretariat thereof may require such assistance.”
According to the objects and reasons of ‘The Trade Dispute Resolution Bill, 2023’, “as Pakistan embarks upon trade liberalization and expansion so does the probability of 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.”
Moreover, the absence of a proper Trade Dispute Resolution Mechanism in Pakistan is adversely affecting its ranking in ease of doing business. In order to overcome this, a dedicated government body, legally mandated to resolve international trade disputes was approved by the Cabinet of Pakistan under the Strategic Trade Policy Framework (STPF).
The Trade Dispute Resolution Organization has been established as an attached department of the Ministry of Commerce. It is a platform that helps to prevent the detrimental effects of unresolved international trade conflicts and to mitigate the imbalance between stronger and weaker players by having their disputes settled based on rules.