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1,393 kg gold imported during five months of 2012-13 ISLAMABAD
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APP
bOUT 1393 kilogram of gold has been imported during the first five months of current fiscal year showing an increase of 12.52 per cent over 1254 kg during the same period of last year. The gold imports during the period under review cost US $ 74.812 million against US $66.49 million during the same period of previous year. According to the data of Pakistan bureau of Statistics, the overall imports of metal group registered an increase of 14.38 per cent during July-November (2012-13) against the same period of last year. The metal imports during the period
under review were recorded at $1.293 billion against those of $1.13 billion during the same period of last year. Imports of iron and steel scrap registered a growth of 31.05 percent during July-November (201213). Their imports were recorded at $290.248 million during the first five months of current fiscal year against those of $221.476 million during July-November (2011-12). Imports of iron and steel edged up by 6.21 percent from
$544.064 million last year to $577.852 million whereas the imports of aluminum wrought and worked decreased by 1.16 percent from $49.176 million to $48.604 million. The imports of all other metal and articles w e r e recorded a t $301.426 million during the period under review against those of $249.188 million last year posting a growth of 20.96 percent. Meanwhile, during the month of November 2012, the gold imports wit-
nessed an increase of 314.13 percent when compared with those of November 2011 whereas the gold imports during November 2012 over October 2012 decreased by 45.39 percent. Gold imports in November 2012 stood at $16.387 million against those of $3.957 million and $30.006 million in November 2011 and October, 2012 respectively. The overall imports decreased by 0.91 percent during first five months of current financial year whereas exports from the country witnessed positive growth of 7.85 percent, indicating a positive trend in the overall trade volume of the country. The imports decreased from US$18.416 billion last year to US$18.25 billion during the current fiscal year, the data revealed.
Govt likely to give subsidy on addition of GRI to push kinnow export ISLAMABAD ONLINE
Ministry of Commerce may give subsidy to exporters on Reefer Containers shipments for the continuity of kinnow export target, as GRI (General Rate Increase) of 1500USD/40ft Reefer containers will be added on the current tariff effective from 1st of January 2013 said Chief Executive Officer Harvest Tradings & Member Export ICCI, Ahmad Jawad. In a statement he said kinnow export already faced many issues from the start of season and with the addition of GRI from the shipping lines, it could create a negative impact on the cost. Till date only private sector is taking at their own to improve the export every year of this potent source. Jawad said current year’s produc-
fortune for all stakeholders involved with this trade. Despite restoration of normal transportation by goods carriers, it would take sometime to normalize the process. Already kinnow processing factories and orchards in Sargodha are overfilled with citrus fruit and they have become a major headache for their owners to preserve them in a way. It may be recalled here that previous year’s citrus fruit’s export goal remained unfulfilled at 225,000 tonnes as against the target of 300,000 tonnes.
tion is 20 percent less at 1.8 million tones compared to previous year’s yield of 2 million tones. However, unexpected strike by the goods transport carriers across the country few days back badly disturbed all plans and export process. As a result the export target for the citrus fruit fell by 10 percent to 175,000 tones or 180,000 tones from the set target of 200,000 tones, which may spell bad
LCCI makes downward revision of its services charges LAHORE ONLINE
In a major move to ensure monetary relief to all the LCCI members, the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry has made downward revision of its services charges. According to details, the LCCI Executive Committee in its meeting decided to bring down the charges for Visa Recommendation Letter, Visa Invitation Letter, Visa Processing Fee. Visa Recommendation Letter fee for Asian Countries for Proprietor/Director has been curtailed from Rs 1500 to Rs 1000 and for Europe, Africa, USA, Canada, UK and Australia it is now Rs 2000 instead of Rs 3000. Visa Recommendation Letter fee for employees of LCCI Member firms for Europe, Africa, USA, Canada, UK and Australia has been decreased by Rs 1500 and now onward it would be to Rs 2500 instead of Rs 4000. Visa Recommendation Letter fee for employees of LCCI Member firms for Asia has been decreased by Rs 500 and now it is Rs 2000 instead of Rs 2500. The charges for Visa Invitation letter to foreigners have also been halved. Earlier for Asian countries the fee was Rs 1500 and now it is Rs 750 while Europe, Africa, USA, Canada, UK and Australia it is now Rs 1500 instead of Rs 3000. Same way Visa processing fee for China has also been halved.
‘Let’s enhance trade with India’ SUKKUR ONLINE
Federal Minister for Commerce Makhdoom Amin Fahim has said that Pakistan’s stance to enhance trade relations with India is a new era between the two countries. Regional Trade is quite common in other countries of the world but owing to poor political relations between the said countries trade activities could not promoted, he told reporters in Sukkur. He further added that we are working on the roadmap which is made for the improvement of promotion of trade in this regard.
NGOs DEMAND RECONSIDERATION OF PLANT BREEDERS’ RIGHTS BILL ISLAMABAD STAFF REPORT
Demanding that Plant breeders’ Rights bill 2010 should not be passed in haste as it needed more time to be debated by the stakeholders concerned, the civil society organizations on Wednesday asked the government to postpone the bill and to let the new National Assembly after the next general elections to consider it. This was said in a seminar “Plant breeder’s Rights (PbR) bill 2010” held by the Centre for Culture and Development (C2D), Sustainable Agriculture Action Group (SAAG), Potohar Organisation for Development Advocacy (PODA) and Lok Sanjh Foundation in collaboration with Actionaid-Pakistan. The policy seminar was aimed at addressing the conflict emerging between farming communities, civil society and seed producing companies after the introduction of the PbR bill in the parliament. The participants from civil society and small farmers associations demanded that the present National Assembly had a very short time to consider the proposed PbR bill 2010 and it, if passed in haste, would have drastic implications for the small farmers and the agriculture sector. The PbR bill had been pending for contemplation in the National Assembly for the
last few years and it had received renewed attention from the government after formation of Intellectual Property Organisation (IPO) as the regulator of Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs) in Pakistan. Lok Sanjh Foundation Executive Director Dr Shahid Zia gave a brief overview of the PbR legislation in Pakistan. He said that seed monopolies were expected under the original and existing version of the PbR bill. He added that the present proposed bill was a replication or the reorganization of the previous draft of 1998 with some cosmetic changes. Under the proposed legislation, centuries old farming practice of exchange including sharing and reusing seeds could be crippled entirely. There was also need to further look into the clauses of the PbR bill to make it more farmer friendly and should not be used to safeguard the concerns of the seed companies. He stressed the need for the inclusion of damage clause in favour of farmers. He lamented the fact that damage clause for the benefit of the farmers was not inserted in the bill which was widely demanded by the farmers and the civil society, whereas the demand of deletion of damage clause by the major seed selling companies was accepted overnight. He further demanded that the exceptions included in the PbR bill should be accepted as a right of the farmers.
Federal Seed Certification and Registration Department Certification Officer Saeed Iqbal argued that the PbR legislation was in pursuance of Pakistan as a signatory of World Trade Organisation (WTO) and TRIPS. It would help to protect and promote research initiatives for the innovation and new varieties of seeds and plants for improved per acre yields. Dr Shahid further said that the PbR legislation would help to achieve the goals of food security in Pakistan. He added that the proposed legislation was important as it would regulate illegal practices of the seed mafia and companies. PODA Executive Director Sameena Nazir appreciated the organizers for holding the consultation. She said agriculture was impossible without the contribution of women farmers. However, the proposed legislation did not refer to the concerns and requirements of the female farmers. NCA Rawalpindi Director Dr Nadeem Omar Tarar said that passing the bill without ensuring bio-safety guidelines and farmers’ rights would be disastrous for the small farmers’ community in particular and the agriculture sector in general. He further added that all traditional knowledge and genetic resources were required to be properly documented and exclusive rights of the people should be conceded over indigenous knowledge. He also pointed out that Conven-
tion on bio-diversity, of which Pakistan was one of the signatories, was referred to selectively, whereas all clauses which contained the rights of the people over indigenous resources were usually not quoted. Mushtaq Gaddi, lecturer at NIPS, Quaid-a-Azam University highlighted the importance of the PbR bill in the perspective of political economy and said that the bill was an attempt to give rights to the multi-national corporations to exploit the people and the resources of the
developing world. He termed the bill a form of neo-imperialism. He said that the government should be urged not to pass the bill without ensuring rights of the farmers’ community. The participants appreciated the efforts of Actionaid-Pakistan for initiating the debate on the PbR, which was a crucial piece of legislation in the context of food security in Pakistan. They said that the issue needed to be debated further and farmers should also be consulted in this regard.
Friday, 28 December, 2012