29 February 2004	Sunday	08 Muharram 1425

LAHORE, Feb 28: The Pakistan Compliance Initiative, in collaboration with the government, corporate stakeholders, trade bodies and civil society, will formulate national standards for social compliance under the World Trade Organization in next 18 months.

This was stated by PCI director Faiz Shah a seminar on WTO and Textile Sector here on Saturday. He said that the PCI would get its standards approved from the major foreign buyers and launch a comprehensive national compliance programme.

He said that the major foreign buyers of Pakistani products would be invited next year to examine and approve the PCI compliance programme. The industries would be asked to become members or associated members of the PCI for getting its certification for social compliance. He said that 55 to 60pc export-oriented industries were expected to become PCI members during the next five years.

He said that evolution of the comprehensive social compliance standards had become necessary because working conditions, labour standards, environment and social security would become major non-tariff barriers under the WTO regime. The foreign buyers would refuse to buy the products of the non-compliant industries.

Sanctions had been imposed against the industry in Sialkot on child labour issue in the recent past.

Speaking on productivity, training and labour laws Awais Mazhar said that China would set the productivity benchmark in textiles under the WTO. India and Pakistan would require 63 per cent and 43 per cent improvement respectively for reaching the benchmark. Pakistan had the second cheapest labour force in the world but could not compete with China because of its competitive edge in quality, cheaper electricity and economy of scale.

He said that the government institutes were providing 14th century training to textile technicians in 21st century. The textile industry had now decided to establish its own training institute in a government building where Sri Lankan instructors would train the technicians.

State Bank's Cost Competitiveness Committee Chairman Dr Salman Shah said that value-addition was required in the entire textile production chain from the cotton to the products. Pakistan was 7 to 10 year behind China, which was applying biotechnology to cotton and had a 15 per cent growth rate in all sectors against 3 to 4 per cent growth rate of our country. A study conducted by India last year had proved that the impression that everything was subsidised in China was wrong. He said that constraints and over-regulation had hampered the growth of our industry.