Access to EU markets
Monday, 27 Apr, 2009
PAKISTAN has been making efforts to gain greater market access for its exports to the United States and the European Union ever since it joined the international war on terror towards the end of 2001. But all these efforts have failed to produce any tangible outcome so far. While the US continues to drag its feet on Islamabad’s request for a free trade pact, the EU has ruled out the possibility outright. As a consequence, our exporters are facing tough competition from rivals in countries like Bangladesh and Sri Lanka who get preferential treatment in America and Europe. This has resulted in a slower than expected growth in exports, which recently showed up in the government’s cash-flow problems and forced it to reluctantly borrow money from the International Monetary Fund. Exporters pin the blame on the government’s ‘half-hearted’ and futile efforts to convince its two largest trading partners that we need trade and not aid to put our economy on a sound footing. But that take is only partially true. Given the fact that the big powers use bilateral free trade and investment treaties as foreign policy tools, it is not easy to obtain preferential trade treatment from Washington or Brussels unless they can draw some substantial political and economic advantages in return.
Some recent developments, however, indicate that some friendly countries in Europe and powerful business lobbies in the US are finally realising the crucial importance of trade for the economic and political stability of Pakistan, which has lost billions of dollars on account of it being the frontline state in the terror war. In America we find the US Chamber of Commerce willing to work to get the Obama administration to lower its tariffs for our textile exports. In Europe we have been assured by a French commerce ministry official that his country would support “any short-term solution for enhancing Pakistan’s access to the EU market”. Paris will also support Islamabad’s efforts to enter into a free trade agreement with the EU. These are encouraging signs. But the government will now have to work harder to present its case convincingly to cash in on these opportunities.
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Countering adulteration
Monday, 27 Apr, 2009
EVERY now and then reports of raids on factories manufacturing fake branded drinks or toxic food products remind us of the ready availability of adulterated food in our markets. According to a report in this paper, fake versions of almost every brand of beverage are available in the markets of Islamabad and Rawalpindi. A major problem with detecting this kind of adulteration is that consumers cannot always tell when they are being cheated. The product might taste similar, look alike, cost the same but is likely to be harmful to the health of the consumer. Health officials in Rawalpindi collected hundreds of samples of food over the past month that were found to be adulterated in one form or the other. Although the health effects of taking adulterated food have not been studied, medical experts generally agree that over prolonged periods such consumption may amount to slow poisoning. Many of the substances used in adulterating food, including artificial food colouring, are either carcinogenic or can have adverse effects on the digestive system. But despite countless campaigns against adulteration in the past, dishonest food manufacturers and traders continue to add harmful substances, sell contaminated food or tamper with the original content of the food item.
An inefficient monitoring system, insufficient food inspectors, inadequate powers of these inspectors and lax penalties have often been blamed for the prevalence of this health menace. But in a society ever-overflowing with new food products that are likely to be targeted by copycats, another major factor is the lack of awareness and widespread negligence and indifference among consumers. More food inspectors, stricter laws, stiffer penalties and even greater coordination among the organisations involved in the anti-adulteration drive will help curb the practice only if consumers, especially from the lower-income groups, are conscious and aware about adulterated foods and thereby avoid buying suspect items. As such, what also needs to be implemented are measures to create awareness of food impurities and hygiene among the general public through advertising and media campaigns. Consumers need to be encouraged to go for tinned or packed items with proper information labels displayed. Improved awareness about consumers’ rights and obligations coupled with more effective consumer protection laws will help facilitate the emergence of an organised and active consumer movement. The latter is the key to better quality foodstuffs, and thus better public health.
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Jungle law
Monday, 27 Apr, 2009
THE brutal crimes committed by the Taliban constitute a warning: this is the sort of behaviour that lies at the extremist yet logical end of the jungle-law mindset taking root in the country. Increasingly, Pakistan is a place where the powerful can get away with any transgression, while the weak become exponentially vulnerable. A case in point is last week’s incident in Muzaffargarh. A district education officer visited a government high school in connection with an inquiry against a secondary schoolteacher. The enraged teacher reportedly thrashed the DEO and then locked her up, while the assailant’s accomplices fired in the air. The police eventually arrested the DEO’s attacker but delayed registering a case against him. Reportedly, the teacher in question is close to an MPA from the PML-Q’s unification bloc. The area police told this paper that they were awaiting “instructions” from the provincial assembly legislator.
Such subversion of justice is all too common in our society, where the rule of law remains an abstract concept. The citizenry is taught by example to sidestep the conventions of legality and citizens’ rights when there is a chance of getting away with it – which depends mainly on access to wealth, privilege and power. Ordinary citizens learn from the example set by their rulers, which virtually across the board belong to the feudal or economic elite. There are plenty of instances where the feudal elite, among them well-known politicians, have victimised peasants and other powerless constituents. Instances of buying votes, bribing constituents and opposition party members, and blatantly favouring loyalists are too many to enumerate. Military rulers have no better record. Power has often been wrested through moves later ‘legalised’ through a retroactive tinkering with the laws. The constitution of the country has been subverted, and legal governments arbitrarily removed.
The judiciary and the police are meant to prevent such flouting of the law, but these institutions have shown a regrettable lack of commitment. A pliant justice system has often been created through either a non-transparent process of appointing judges, or through alleged ‘deals’. Constitutional illegalities have been given retroactive cover. The transgressions of the police, meanwhile, are known to all. From ceding to the demands of influentials and manipulating evidence to extracting confessions through brutal means, the Pakistan police have gathered a reputation of being no friend of the powerless. Such practices teach the citizenry that the law is invoked only by the weak, and to little avail. To prevent a jungle-like situation in the country’s future, it is imperative that the law be applied and enforced across the board. In the restoration of the chief justice, an important point was scored for the rule of law. This must be driven home further. It must be made clear that no one is above the country’s laws, which are paramount.
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OTHER VOICES - North American Press
Monday, 27 Apr, 2009
Over the limit
PRESIDENT Obama told banking executives this week to clean up their credit card business. He made clear that he understands the billowing anger and the huge strains placed on millions of American cardholders who face sudden interest rate spikes, hidden fees and tricky contracts that no one without a law degree and a magnifying glass can hope to master.
His promises will amount to little unless he follows through quickly to strengthen bills in Congress designed to protect credit card customers.
The president said after meeting credit card executives on Thursday that he and his economic team recognise the need for credit cards, especially in a tough economy. Small businesses often depend on the cards to order goods or meet the payroll. And consumers have learned to enjoy instant credit at the checkout counter. But as a … user of credit cards himself, Mr Obama told banking executives that it is time to reform this area of their business.
He demanded stronger protection against unfair rate increases and abusive fees along with more oversight and enforcement. He called for clarity….
Credit card operators have long resisted such reforms, and earlier experiments with self-policing resulted in very spotty improvements. After complaints from cardholders who felt tricked by their banks, the Federal Reserve last year proposed several useful changes that will not, unfortunately, take effect until July 2010.
There’s a better way to help consumers. A credit card bill of rights proposed by Democratic Representatives … would codify many of the Fed’s rules into law. It would ban interest rate increases on existing balances unless payment is more than 30 days late, and it would forbid ‘double-cycle billing’….
It would also require 45 days’ notice for a rate increase in most cases. An even stronger bill … would make it harder for people under the age of 21 to get cards, far too many of whom now think plastic is simply another form of cash. It would also require creditors to apply a cardholder’s payment to the balance with the highest interest rate. So far, these reforms face fierce Republican opposition, especially in the Senate.
If the president is really serious about credit card relief, he could pressure Congress to end some of the industry’s worst tricks right now….
Mr Obama has spent a lot of time and energy trying to save the banks. He and Congress must also do more to spare their customers. — (April 24)