ISLAMABAD: The National Tariff Commission (NTC) will draft a competitiveness policy to improve the standard and quality of local products. Federal Minister for Commerce Khurram Dastigar Khan directed the NTC to conduct a comprehensive research to ascertain the sectors in which the preference for Pakistani products have been eroded due to Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) and bilateral trade agreements concluded by China in the recent years.
This information will be instrumental in securing a better trade deal with China and gaining further reduction in duties on Pakistani products in the second phase of Pak-China FTA.
Federal Minister for Commerce and Trade Khurram Khan, while chairing a meeting to review the performance of the renewed NTC under new law, outlined the contours of the competitiveness policy. He stated that the new policy will propose resource allocation for efficient industries to improve quality of products.
The policy will propose measures for compliance to the Sanitary and Phyto Sanitary requirements (SPS) and Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) to ensure that the Pakistani products reach the high-value-end markets of the developed world. The policy will enunciate regulatory framework to ensure that Pakistani imports and exports comply with the international SPS and TBT standards practiced in the world. Competitiveness Policy will propose a package of incentives, protection and assistance to the industry using energy efficient inputs and products. To promote such practices in the domestic industry, drastic duty reduction will be proposed on the import of energy-efficient machinery.
