September 10, 2003	Wednesday	Rajab 12, 1424

KARACHI, Sept 9: Pakistan government needs to legislate in five areas of labour welfare to comply with the social standards set by the US and European countries for their trade partners in their quest of globalization, development and growth.

Social and health standards are not directly a part of the agenda of the World Trade Organization (WTO) but business leaders in Karachi expect this issue is to figure in the Cancun ministerial conference in Mexico beginning from Wednesday.

Business leaders in Karachi say that drafts of all these five laws plus Industrial Relations Ordinance were finalized in 2002. But the government promulgated only IRO 2002 on October 26 last year. The government, however, did not incorporate a wide range of recommendations proposed by a businessmen committee. Now the businessmen want the government to promulgate the five laws and also to amend the IRO 2002 to incorporate the suggestions of their committee.

The five laws which are now almost finalized after having been debated and discussed at various levels between the government and the businessmen representatives are (i) Conditions of Employment (ii) Wages Ordinance (iii) Occupational Safety and Health Ordinance (iv) Human Resource Development and Control of Employment Ordinance and (v) Labour Welfare and Social Security Ordinance.

All these labour related issues were discussed in the inter- ministerial meetings and eventually in last week of August at the last Textile Board meeting. The industries minister constituted a Committee that has committed to come out with final vetting of IRO 2002 by middle of this month.

Many businessmen feel that government feels embarrassed to enforce these laws as ordinances when general elections have been held and legislatures have been set up at the federal and provincial levels. “But neither parliament discusses such laws nor any political party has time to debate on such issues,” is a cynic remark of a business leader.

Businessmen in Pakistan consider concern of the US and European countries on labour and health standards more a protection for their domestic market rather than any love for workers.

Quite many local textile exporting firms were put in to tight corner by their European buyers who demanded hygienic working conditions and special tools. Certain chemicals and dyes have been specified which are considered to be health hazards hence restricted for use in the industry.

Trade organizations like All Pakistan Textile Mills Associations and other bodies are now reported to be engaging professional consultants to develop a social compliance bench mark for the exporting companies in Pakistan.

All these demands from the textile buyers from the US and Europe are being made under social accountability. “Textile buyers are expected by their civil society and stakeholders to be responsible towards the society they are operating in and to be accountable for the activities they are undertaking,” a local textile exporter explained.

He explained that his buyers informed him that the pressure groups in the US and Europe are demanding that production and services being sourced out to the developing countries like Pakistan should not lead to “environment deterioration, exploitation and inhuman bad working conditions.” Child labour, unpaid labour, engaging prisoners are now taboos in Europe and the US. Social compliance is now a vital part of business strategy for supply chains management. Many companies in Europe and the US are reported to have designed social compliance programme for their vendor companies located in countries like Pakistan.

The most important component of the compliance is legal compliance to local and labour and environmental laws, implementation of codes of conduct of the organization in the vendor factories in countries like India, China, Vietnam, Cambodia, Pakistan and Bangladesh. These codes comprise labour standards, health and safety standards, local labour laws and environment laws.

The Pakistan government has taken some steps towards environmental preservation and an ordinance in this regard was promulgated. But there is a lot to be done for labour welfare and environmental preservation for which financial and technical assistance is available from the developed countries.