ISLAMABAD, Jan 28: The government is likely to do away with the Commerce and Trade Group (CTG) in the wake of restructuring of the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB). Well-placed sources told Dawn on Saturday that in this regard a proposal was approved in a meeting of the ministry of commerce held here on Friday evening, headed by Commerce Minister Humayun Akhtar Khan, for presentation to the prime minister.

The prime minister is expected to finalize the much-awaited restructuring of the EPB on Monday after presentation by the commerce ministry and EPB, which is likely to create a new authority -– the Trade Development Authority of Pakistan (TDAP).

Under the proposed plan, the biggest casualty of the creation of the TDAP would be the demise of the CTG, which was one of the 12 federally-constituted groups as a result of the 1973 service reforms.

The sources said that the fate of about 250 officers (BPS 17 to 21) and over 1,000 officials (BPS 1 to 16) was being proposed to be placed in the surplus pool at the mercy of secretary establishment, with no carrier prospects. However, they will be given an opportunity to join the TDAP after qualifying a human resource audit and terminating their ties with the government as civil servants.

This kind of development has created a lot of resentment among the officers of the CTG who were manning over 60 per cent positions in the ministry of commerce and over 95 per cent of the EPB affairs, which would have a negative impact on the policy formulation and implementation.

According to the proposed plan, the TDAP would have a complete administrative and financial autonomy and the budget will include the entire export market development fund (EMDF), besides its regular budget.

The new authority will be headed by a chief executive officer, with absolute powers of hiring and firing and complete financial autonomy. There will be no interference from the ministry of commerce, as linkage between the two would be minimal.

The last meeting of the EPB restructuring was held on August 5, 2005 in which the prime minister had instructed the EPB authorities to consult the CTG officers and HR experts with regard to the fate of the CTG. “The EPB chairman did not consult us as we are the real stakeholders, despite the premier directions,” a CTG official told Dawn on the condition of anonymity.

Moreover, there would be a board and the CEO would report to the board with a very broad representation from the public and private sectors following the creation of the TDAP.

The government had announced in the Trade Policy of 2002-03 the restructuring of EPB which would cater to the needs of small and medium exporters and would be manned by officers having relevant professional knowledge and expertise.

Over the last three years, the restructuring exercise has culminated into demise of the CTG instead of improving the working environment and structure of the existing EPB officers and officials.