Trade Organizations Act, 2013

The Trade Organizations Act, 2013 governs how business bodies — chambers of commerce, industry associations, and similar trade organisations operating across more than one province — are licensed, registered, and run in Pakistan. It replaced the earlier Trade Organisations Ordinance, 1961 for organisations whose business is not confined to a single province.

Section 2 defines the different kinds of trade organisations the Act covers, including the Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry, provincial/district Chambers of Commerce, Women's Chambers of Commerce, all-Pakistan trade associations, Town Associations, and Chambers of Small Traders — plus definitions of small traders and small industry based on employee count, turnover, and utility bill thresholds. Section 3 is the central licensing provision: no trade organisation may register under the Companies Ordinance without first obtaining a licence from the "Regulator" (a Director General or senior officer designated for this purpose), and licences are granted for a five-year term subject to prescribed conditions.

Sections 4 to 9 cover revocation of licences held by pre-existing trade organisations, the privileges and obligations that come with a licence, renewal, cancellation, and the process for a fresh ("de novo") licence. Sections 10 to 12 deal with membership rules and require uniformity in the internal structure and autonomy of trade organisations. Sections 13 to 17 establish the Regulator's role and powers — including the power to enter and search premises (Section 15) and to supersede an organisation's Executive Committee and appoint an Administrator in its place (Section 16) when needed. Section 18 restricts lawsuits against trade organisations, Section 19 addresses compulsory membership, and Section 21 provides a right of appeal against the Regulator's decisions.

Later sections cover the Regulator's fee-levying power (Section 24), penalties for contravention (Section 25, though the extract does not state a specific amount), liability of companies for contraventions (Section 26), the Trade Organisations Fund (Section 27), and rules for merging trade organisations in the same sector (Section 33). Section 35 repeals the 1961 Ordinance retroactively from 30 December 2006 for organisations covered by this Act, while preserving actions already taken under it. Section 36 validates actions taken by the Regulator between 4 October 2007 and the Act's commencement.

The extract shows this Act has been substantively amended by Act No. IV of 2025, which changed the definition of "Regulator" and several references throughout — so this is a currently active and fairly recently updated law, but readers should still confirm the latest text for any provision they rely on.