RECORDER REPORT

ISLAMABAD: The National Assembly Standing Committee on Human Rights on Tuesday constituted a sub-committee to examine the issue of industrial pollution and submit a detailed report on it to the main committee within 30 days.

The meeting of the committee was held here at the committee room of PIPS, Parliament Lodges, with MNA Babar Nawaz Khan in the chair.

The committee also formulated terms of reference (ToRs) of the subcommittee too. According to the terms of reference (TORs), the sub-committee would discuss the Labour Policy and steps taken by the governments to control pollution created by the industries of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Punjab, Sindh and Balochistan.

It was also decided unanimously in the meeting that the subcommittee would submit the detailed report regarding industrial pollution and steps taken by the government to control it within 30 days to the main committee for further action.

Giving a briefing to the committee members on the GSP-Plus status, a joint secretary of Ministry of Commerce informed the committee members that there is no threat to the status of the GSP-Plus status, as the government is fully committed to get maximum benefit from it.

The committee was informed that the Parliament has also passed some relevant laws in the recent months to remove legal hurdles in the way of the GSP-Plus status.

A member of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Sajid Nawaz, however, said the government is trying to show that everything is okay while the facts on the other hand negate such claims regarding the GSP-Plus status.

The European Union granted Pakistan the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) Plus status in December 2013 and this allows around 20 percent of Pakistani exports to enter the EU market at zero tariff and other 70 percent commodities at preferential rates.

The committee deferred the agenda regarding details and status of the missing persons for discussion till its next meeting due to the incomplete report.

Discussion on the “Protection against Harassment of Women at the Workplace (Amendment) Bill, 2017” was also deferred due to absence of the mover of the bill, MNA Dr Fozia Hameed.