LAHORE, Jan 23: The Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) has protested the harassment of pharmaceutical manufacturers at the hands of drug inspectors and urged the chief minister to take notice of the situation.

After meeting a delegation of the manufacturers on Wednesday, LCCI President Farooq Iftikhar said drug inspectors were neither trained nor qualified to inspect pharmaceutical units.

He said the situation had caused resentment among businessmen and if it did not stop, the manufacturers would be left with no option but to close their units, resulting in an acute shortage of medicines in the market.

Iftikhar said the pharmaceutical industry was one of the major foreign exchange earners for the country and it should be taken care of at all costs.

He urged the chief minister to immediately take notice of the situation and stop the Health Department from sending “unauthorised, untrained and unqualified people” to pharmaceutical units.

New Chambers: The approval of the Trade Organisation Bill of 2012 by the Senate Standing Committee for Commerce on Wednesday will pave the way for the formation of Chambers of Small Traders and Cottage Industry in every district, says the All Pakistan Anjuman-i-Tajiran, a representative body of small traders.

The National Assembly has already passed the bill.

A press release issued by body’s central president Mian Mannan, chairman Khwaja Shafiq and secretary-general Naeem Mir, who were also present in the meeting of the standing committee.

They said they welcomed the approval of establishing chambers of small traders, claiming support of all political parties in parliament.

Once the Senate passes the bill, it will be sent to the president for his signatures to become a law.

Mr Mir said that up to three million traders would get their national tax number for their registration at chambers of small traders, providing a significant benefit to the national exchequer.

He said that small traders had been struggling for the establishment of chambers for the last three decades.