The document summarizes key aspects of the Trade Organizations Act (TOA) and Trade Organizations Rules (TOR) of 2013 in Pakistan. It defines terms like "small traders", "small industry", and "trade organizations". It outlines membership requirements, election procedures, reporting requirements, and the organizational structure of trade federations established under the Act. It also describes powers of regulatory authorities to enter and search premises, and the establishment of a Trade Organizations Fund.

1. Trade Organizations Act (TOA 2013)
Trade Organizations Rules (TOR 2013)

2. • Does your organization think that
changes are needed in the new Act and
Rules?

3. • What problems do you find in the Trade
Organization’s Act and Rules 2013?

4. “chamber of small traders”
means a chamber organized to represent small businesses, small
traders and small industry as provided in clause (f) of subsection (2)
of section 3 of the Act;
“association of small traders”
means an association with membership on all-Pakistan basis
organized to represent specific small traders, small businesses or
small industry as provided in first proviso to clause (d) of sub-section
(2) of section 3 of the Act;

5. • “small traders and small business”
means a member of trade organization whose
• number of employees is less than twenty,
• annual business turnover ranges between two million rupees to
twenty million rupees,
• all utility bills do not exceed one million rupees per annum and
• neither such small trader or small business is owned or controlled
by a Provincial Government nor
• it carries on trade or business confined to only one Province;

6. • “small industry”
means a member of trade organization which is
• a manufacturing concern having an industry less than twenty
employees,
• whose annual turnover ranges between two million rupees to
twenty million rupees,
• utility bills do not exceed one million rupees per annum,
• and is neither owned or controlled by a Provincial Government nor
carries on trade or business confined to only one Province.

7. 11. Membership of trade organizations.
(7) There shall be two classes of memberships in a trade
organization, except chamber of small traders and association of
small traders.

8. 3. Licensing and registration of trade organizations.
(d) an association with membership on all-Pakistan basis organized to
represent a specific trade, industry or service or any combination
thereof:
Provided that a licence for registration as an all-Pakistan association
shall not be granted to more than two trade organizations in the
same sector, one of which must be an organization representing small
business, small traders or small industry:
• Licence shall be granted to a trade organization for a period of five
years.

9. 4. Revocation of licences of existing trade organizations.
Except as hereinafter provided, and notwithstanding anything in any
other law for the time being in force and memorandum and articles of
association of any trade organization, any licence granted under
section 3 of the repealed ordinance to an existing trade
organization shall stand revoked with effect from December 30,
2006, and such trade organization shall be required to apply for grant
of licence under this Act by the date notified by the Federal
Government:

10. 8. Cancellation of registration
(c) the registration of an existing trade organization under the
Ordinance shall stand cancelled on 1st July, 2008, unless it has
been granted licence by the Federal Government under section 3.

11. 15. Eligibility to vote
Subject to provisions of section 10 of the Act, the eligibility of a
member of trade organization to vote at the elections of the trade
organization shall be subject to following conditions, namely:-
(a) the member has completed two years of valid membership of the
trade organization as on the date of announcement of election
schedule by the executive committee of the trade organization:
Provided that old members shall be eligible to vote on
completion of one year of their enrollment and payment of all
dues; and

12. 18. Election procedure.
(2) Within three days of the announcement of the election schedule
member-firms desiring to change their representative shall intimate
changes regarding name of representative to the secretary
general alongwith necessary proof of eligibility.

13. 12. Uniformity in structure and autonomy of trade organizations.
The Federal Government shall propose to and obtain approval from
the Standing Committee on Commerce in the National Assembly for a
minimum, basic template of Memorandum for all trade organizations
to be registered under this Act;

14. 20. Organizational structure of the Federation
The Federation shall comprise a president, a senior vice president,
twelve vice-presidents, an executive committee and a general body.

15. 22. Reporting requirements.
A trade organization shall annually submit by the 31st
December to the Regulator-
(a) annual financial statements as prepared by auditors and approved
by the executive committee;
(b) plan of activities for the next year as provided in rule 23; and
(c) a soft and hard copy of list of its members as on the 30th
November, in the format as set out in Annex-I of Schedule „B‟.

16. Validation of actions etc.—.
Anything done, actions taken, orders passed, instruments
made, proceedings initiated processes or communications
issued, powers
conferred, assumed, exercised by the Federal Government or
Regulator on and after the 4th October, 2007 and before the
commencement of this Act shall be deemed to have been validly
done, made, issued, taken, initiated, conferred, assumed and
exercised and the provisions of this Act shall have, and shall be
deemed always to have had effect accordingly.

17. 15. Powers to enter and search the premises.
The Regulator or any officer authorized in this behalf may, for the
purpose of making any investigation, enter any premises, where the
Regulator or such authorized officer, as the case may be, has
reasons to believe that any article, books of account, computer
hardware or software, data recording devices, or other document
relating to the subject matter of investigation may be found, and may-
(a) search such premises and inspect* any article, books of account,
computer hardware or software, data recording devices, or other
document;
(b) take extracts or copies of such articles, books of account, or any
software data;

18. 15. Powers to enter and search the premises.
(c) impound or seal such books of account, computer hardware or
software, data recording devices, or other documents; and
(d) make inventory of such articles, books of account, computer
hardware or software, data recording devices, or other documents
found in such premises.
(2) All searches made under sub-section (1) shall be carried
out, mutatis mutandis, in accordance with the provisions of Code of
Criminal Procedure, 1898 (Act V of 1898).
(3) Before taking any action under this section, the Regulator shall
submit to the Federal Government in writing the evidence and
reasons for taking the said action.

19. • Following clause deleted in Ordinance 2009:

20. • Following clause deleted in Ordinance 2009:

21. • Following clause deleted in Ordinance 2009:

22. • Replaced with the following clause

23. • The following has been deleted from 2009 Ordinance:

24. • The following has been deleted from 2009 Ordinance:

25. • In rules 2013 it is added as under:-
26. Memorandum of association and bye-laws. –
Memorandum of association of trade organization,
including but not limited to the organizational structure and
any bye-laws of a trade organization shall be within the
provisions of these rules, the Act, the Ordinance and the
public notices issued by the Federal Government from time
to time:
Provided that any amendment made in memorandum of
association and by-laws shall be notified to the Regulator
by the trade bodies:

26. • In rules 2013 it is added as under:-
Provided further that the Federal Government
may rescind, amend or otherwise modify any
provision of memorandum and articles of
association in case it is observed to be in conflict
with provisions of the Act, rules made
thereunder, the Ordinance and public notices
issued by the Federal Government from time to
time.

27. 27. Trade Organisations Fund
There shall be established a fund to be known as the Trade
Organisations Fund which shall consist of,-
grants made by the Federal Government and the Provincial
Governments;
(a) fees and penalties collected by the Regulator; and
(b) contributions from local and foreign donors or agencies.
(2) The Federal Government shall make rules and regulations for
utilizing and incurring expenditures from the Fund.
(3) For the purpose of maintaining the Fund the Federal Government
may open and maintain accounts at such scheduled banks as it may
from time to time determine.