Saifullah Khan

Mr. Khan, an international trade lawyer, has more than twenty years of practical experience in the areas of international trade policy and law advisory. He carries expertise in WTO Laws, which includes Agreement on Antidumping, Agreement on Subsidies & Countervailing Measures, Agreement on Safeguards, General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) and TRIPS. He also practices Anti-trust and Competition Law, E-Commerce, Trade Agreements, issues relating to para-tariff & non-tariff barriers and Alternate Dispute Resolution mechanisms like Mediation & Arbitration etc. He is a Member of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) Pakistan Commission on Alternate Dispute Resolution & Mediation. Mr. Khan has been representing his clients before the Appellate forum and has also been pleading and defending his clients in cases of appeals before Antidumping Appellete Tribunal and Competition Appellate Tribunal. He has also been pleading and defending his clients in cases of appeals/suites/petitions before the superior courts (High Courts) of Pakistan. Mr. Khan actively participated in the Task Force meetings in Istanbul, Turkey held in connection with the establishment of Organization of the Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Arbitration Center at Istanbul, Turkey. To enhance his negotiation skills for mediation, recently, Mr. Khan participated in a Executive Education Program on Negotiation (PON) at Harvard Law School, hosted by the Global Business School in Dubai. The PON is a university consortium of Harvard University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and Tufts University, dedicated to developing the theory and practice of negotiation and conflict management. Mr. Khan did an Executive Education program on “Mastering Trade Policy” from Harvard Kennedy School, Boston, USA.

Mr. Khan has authored a number of articles on highly professional subjects/topics, published in renowned magazines, journals and newspapers. He has been writing and presenting papers on the subjects relating to international trade laws including Trade Defence Laws of WTO, Competition law, Dispute Settlement, Preferential Trade Agreements, E-Commerce, Trade in Services etc. His article on the subject of “Dispute Settlement Mechanism” was published in the Newsletter of the WTO Cell of Ministry of Industries, Government of Pakistan, (Volume 2012/03).

Mr. Khan has served as Chairman of the Standing Committee on WTO Affairs of the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FPCCI) for the years 2017 & 2018. In the year-2018, he has been awarded ‘Special Achievement Gold Medal’ by FPCCI in recognition of remarkable contribution as Chairman of the Standing Committee of WTO Affairs. For the year 2019, he was the Convener of the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce & Industry – FPCCI Central Standing Committee on “WTO Trade & Regulations”. Mr. Khan has an extensive global advisory portfolio in development of International Trade Management System, International Trade Agreements, Foreign Trade Development.

Currently, Mr. Khan is closely working with Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) as head of Working Group on “Laws & Regulations” for Implementation of National Single Window (NSW) for Trade Facilitation. NSW, when implemented, will allow parties involved in cross border trade to lodge standardized information and documents at a single-entry point to fulfill all import, export, and transit-related regulatory requirements. Mr. Khan has developed expertise and engaged in the advisory activities in the legal, policy and regulatory framework for e-commerce. Currently, he is member of legal affairs committee of Pakistan Software House Association (representative trade organization of Pakistani companies engaged in Information Technology and Information Technology enabled services’ business). He is assisting Ministry of Commerce, Government of Pakistan on devising policy frame work for e-commerce in Pakistan in line with the guidelines and model laws framed/adopted by UNCITRAL.

Mr. Khan participated in the 50^th session of UNCITRAL held at Vienna on July 03–21, 2017 as “Alternate Pakistan’s Representative” and attended a number of interactive sessions. He also assists online businesses to maintain a compliant online business by offering legal services including contract drafting, reviewing and negotiating,  privacy and data protection, consumer protection, intellectual property and advertising etc. His firm is one of the contributors of Business for etrade development – a private sector arm of the “UNCTAD-led etrade for all initiative”. His firm is also a trust partner of safe.shop (a global trust mark) for Pakistan and UAE.

Mr. Khan attended 4^th E-Commerce Week (April 16^th – 20^th, 2018) at Geneva organized by United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD). His firm had co-organised a session with UNCTAD in ecommerce week with the title “Public-Private dialogue to drive ecommerce”. Mr. Khan moderated this session participated by, among others, six high profile panelists from public and private sectors of various countries who brought with them their success stories of public-private dialogue for the promotion of ecommerce and offering solutions to ecommerce problems. He also had the opportunity to speak as panelist in three other sessions wherein he highlighted the upcoming trends of ecommerce relating to online platforms, women’s empowerment through digitalization, finding common ways to promote financial inclusion via e-commerce in different cultures around the world.

Mr. Khan has acquired extensive experience of dealing with trade defense laws and procedures in Pakistan and abroad. He has been engaged in more than 75% of the antidumping investigations initiated by the Pakistani Antidumping Authority (i.e. National Tariff Commission, Ministry of Commerce – Pakistan) till date. He has been providing antidumping consultancy services to the domestic industry in Pakistan, working for them as a petitioner (representing them throughout the investigation till the imposition of final antidumping duties). He has represented a large number of foreign producers / exporters in various countries in a number of antidumping investigations initiated by Pakistan; working as their attorney in Pakistan and defended them till final determination, in compliance with the provisions of WTO Agreement on Antidumping and Domestic Legislation. He has also defended antidumping cases of a number of Pakistani exporting companies, which were facing antidumping allegations from foreign antidumping authorities. Furthermore, Mr. Khan has been advising clients/ trade associations in Pakistan and abroad on tariff related issues, including but not limited to, tariff setting and tariff protection for their specific products and seeking concessional tariffs as well. Mr. Khan has been representing his clients before the Appellate forum in antidumping investigations. In the year 2018, his firm has also been recognized globally as ‘Best for International Trade Law 2018 – Pakistan’ by Acquisition International in their Global Excellence Awards 2018. Mr. Khan has been invited to deliver lecture on Trade Remedy Laws for fresh (newly qualified) civil services officers at the National Institute of Management (NIM), Islamabad, Pakistan.

Mr. Khan has worked as member of Ministry of Commerce team for the revision of Trade Defence Laws in Pakistan in the Year 2014. All three previous legislations (Antidumping Duties Ordinance 2000, Countervailing Duties Ordinance 2001 and Safeguard Measures 2002) were revamped after critical review keeping in view issues faced in implementation of these laws during more than 10 years of their promulgation. New laws are in place now namely; Antidumping Duties Act 2015, Countervailing Duties Act 2015 and Safeguard Measures Amendment Act 2015.

In the areas of Antitrust & Competition law (merger & acquisition, cartels & restrictive agreements, monopolies and abuse of dominant positions), he has been providing advisory services to clients and suggesting ways and means to comply with the relevant legal provisions of the prevalent law (Competition Act 2010), protecting their interests through invoking the provisions of the law and pleading their cases before the Competition Commission of Pakistan to avoid any likely adverse action against his clients. He has also been pleading and defending his clients in cases of appeals before Competition Appellate Tribunal. He also designed and imparted training on “Competition Compliance Program” to a number of companies in Pakistan.

Few of his presentations/publications/participations in national & international forums is as follows:

1. Presented paper on “Legal Issues in e-Commerce” at e-Commerce Conference “Trade Facilitation & Electronic Business – Forum Hangzhou” organized by UN/CEFACT from 14th to 17th October 2018 in Hangzhou, China.
2. Involved in supervision of Individual Research Paper (IRP) on the topic “A Critical Review of European Union’s Anti-dumping Policies-A Case Study of EU-Pakistan PET Case” by the participant of 26th Mid Career Management Course at the National Institute of Management (NIM), Islamabad.
3. Spoke about e-Commerce success story in Pakistan during a panel discussion at South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) Chamber of Commerce and Industry regional workshop on BUILDING BRIDGES DIGITALLY – E-COMMERCE AND ITS POTENTIALS IN SOUTH ASIA in Colombo Sri Lanka (Oct-2018).
4. Participated in the ‘10th International IT Forum Attended by BRICS and SCO countries’, held at Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia from June 5th to June 6^th 2018 wherein Mr. Khan shared his thoughts in a meeting of experts of the BRICS and SCO Business Council focusing on the matter of ‘Digitalization is an impulse to development of business cooperation between the BRICS and the SCO countries.’
5. Presented paper on “International and domestic initiatives to encourage financial inclusion and the development of e-commerce” in a seminar on “Financial Inclusion and E-Commerce Issues, Information and Discussion” organized by Commercial Law Development Program (CLDP), United States Department of Commerce in association with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) at Pakistan Telecommunication Authority, Islamabad (PTA) on May 08, 2018. The participants of the seminar included representatives from State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), PTA, Nayatel, PTCL, Karandaaz, MasterCard, Jazz and Telenor.
6. Participated in the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2018 in Davos-Klosters, Switzerland 23^rd – 26^thJanuary 2018.
7. Moderated a Panel discussion “Achieving Full Potential of GSP Plus” during the event “Thank EU” organized by the EVOLVE Business Publication held at Marriot Hotel Islamabad on December 07, 2017 which was well attended by Diplomats, Government Officers and Business Executives to offer thanks to EU for awarding GSP Plus status to Pakistan.
8. Presented paper on “E Commerce, Challenges and Opportunities for Arab Countries” in a seminar on Preparations for the 11^th WTO Ministerial Conference: A Regional Perspective
30 October – 01 November 2017, Dubai, UAE. This seminar was organized jointly by the Ministry of Economy, UAE and Islamic Development Bank. Participants included senior officers of Ministry of Trade & Economy from Gulf and North African countries.
9. Actively participated in the Public Forum organized by the WTO in Geneva from September 26 – 28, 2017. The theme of this Public Forum was “Trade Behind the Headlines”.
10. Participated in the Aid for Trade Global Review 2017 under the theme “Promoting Trade, Inclusiveness and Connectivity for Sustainable Development” held at the WTO in Geneva from 11^th to 13^th July, 2017.
11. Actively participated in the Public Forum organized by the WTO in Geneva from September 27 – 29, 2016. Mr. Khan was the only private sector participant from Pakistan in the said public forum and he shared very useful suggestions and made valuable recommendations in the best interest of multilateral trading system.
12. Actively participated in the fourteenth session of the Ministerial Conference of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD 14), co-hosted by the Government of Kenya and UNCTAD, in Nairobi, Kenya (from 17 to 22 July 2016).
13. Participated in UNCTAD experts group meeting on Trade Facilitation, Geneva, Switzerland in 2009.
14. He has been made part of the task force established by the Ministry of Commerce in 2015 for review of the Pakistan-China Free Trade Agreement. He is regularly making representations before the Ministry of Commerce on behalf of his clients on Free Trade Agreements and Preferential Trade Agreements of Pakistan with other trading partners.
15. Was part of the delegation from Pakistan in a consultative meeting with the Government of Indonesia at the WTO, Geneva, in connection with an anti-subsidy investigation (Feb-2014).
16. Represented one of local clients in a hearing before the European Commission (EC) in the matter of anti-circumvention investigation initiated by the EC against Pakistan amongst other countries (Nov-2014).
17. Participated in consultative meeting of WTO, Geneva, Switzerland on “Negotiating Group on Rules” (Sep-2009).
18. Participated in the Amsterdam Global Conference on Sustainability and Transparency (2006 and 2008).
19. Served on the panel of experts in a National Workshop on Country’s Regional Export Strategies organized by Ministry of Commerce, Govt. of Pakistan.
20. Served on the panel of experts of the Institute of Policy Studies on WTO matters.

Publications:

1. Contributed for the MONDAQ (United Kingdom) Question/Answer based Comparative Guide on International Arbitration. This Comparative Guide highlights the law and practice of arbitration in 34 different jurisdictions including Pakistan.
2. Co-authored chapter in “The International Comparative Legal Guide to: Data Protection 2019 and 2020” which is a practical cross-border insight into data protection law. It is a publication of “Global Legal Group, London, UK” which contains comparative study of data protection laws of various jurisdictions, including Pakistan.
3. Khan has contributed for IR Global publication on “Crisis Management: Surviving and thriving in a post pandemic world”. In this publication IR Global members (form sixteen jurisdictions) have shared their opinions on crisis management and business continuity, in their respective jurisdictions, in post Covid-19 scenario.
4. The Article “Mergers Control & Assessment Process” published in the “Competition & Anti-Trust Law 2020 – Expert Guide” of Corporate LiveWire Magazine of United Kingdom. Corporate LiveWire provides business professionals and individuals in the corporate finance sector with information on the latest news and developments from around the globe.
5. Contributed an article for Management Accountant Journal (Sep-Oct 2019 issue) on “Anti-Dumping Laws – Lifeline For Domestic Industry in the era of Trade Liberalization”.
6. Co-authored a chapter in “The International Comparative Legal Guide to: Data Protection 2019” (6^th edition) which is a practical cross-border insight into data protection law. It is a publication of “Global Legal Group, London, UK” which contains comparative study of data protection laws of 42 countries, including Pakistan.
7. Financier Worldwide Corporate Finance Intelligence, United Kingdom has published its Annual Review December 2018 regarding “Data Protection & Privacy Laws” wherein leading professionals from thirteen countries have expressed their professional opinion regarding a uniform set of seven questions, these countries include USA, UK, Germany, Italy, Russian Federation, Serbia, Romania, India, Israel, China, Japan and Pakistan. Mr. Khan contributed his professional views about Data Protection & Privacy Law landscape in Pakistan.
8. Co-authored a chapter in the International Comparative Legal Guide to Outsourcing 2018 concerning a practical cross-border insight into outsourcing published in August 2018 by Global Legal Group, United Kingdom. The publication/guide contains worldwide legal analysis of the laws and regulations of outsourcing in twenty-one jurisdictions, including Pakistan. Chapter 16 of the publication/guide is about Pakistan.
9. The Article on the burning issue of Data Privacy “Defining and Setting Rules of the Game; General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR)” published in the EVOLVE Magazine (a world class magazine known for the quality of its material and the class of readers it is attracting) as a “Wisdom Talk” in their July-2018 publication.
10. The Article “Competition Law and E-Commerce” published in the “Competition & Anti-Trust Law 2018 – Expert Guide” of Corporate LiveWire Magazine of United Kingdom.
11. The Article “E-Commerce and Competition Law” published in the EVOLVE Magazine in the month of February – 2018 (Volume 4, Issue 18 – 2018).
12. The Article “Changing Dynamics of International Trade & Investment” published in the EVOLVE Magazine as a “Special Report” in their December-2016 publication.
13. The Article “Cartelisation / Tacit Collusion” published in the Management Accountant, Official Journal of Institute of Cost & Management Accountants of Pakistan (Volume 23.5 / Sep-Oct, 2014).
14. Prepared and presented a Research Study on “Review of Pak-China and Pak-Malaysia FTAs and to Develop a Framework for Review of Preferential Trade Agreements” before the Public Private Dialogue (PPD) held by the International Trade Centre (ITC) with the collaboration of Ministry of Commerce (MOC) on June 19^th Participants of the PPD included large number of Government officials (from various Ministries) as well as private sector stakeholders. The Chair and moderator of the presentation session was Additional Secretary Commerce.
15. The Article “Dispute Settlement Mechanism” published in the Newsletter of the WTO Cell of Ministry of Industries, Government of Pakistan, (Volume 2012/03).
16. The Article “likely implication of MFN Status being granted to India.” published in the Newsletter of the WTO Cell of Ministry of Industries, Government of Pakistan, (Volume 2012/01).
17. Prepared and presented a Research Study on “Professional Services and GATS: Pakistan” before the PPD held in Islamabad on October 27, 2011. This research study was conducted under Component 1(implemented by the International Trade Centre) of the European Union funded Trade Related Technical Assistance (TRTA II) programme.
18. The Article “Anti-dumping – The Most Emerging Issue of Today” was published in;

• Management Accountant, the monthly journal of the Institute of Cost and Management Accountants of Pakistan (ICMAP) for the month of September 2001.
• The Pakistan Accountant, the bi-monthly journal of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Pakistan (ICAP) for the month of September/October 2001.
• Various English periodicals/newspapers in Pakistan like: The World Trade Review, Dawn & Business Recorder.

19. Presented paper on “Trade Remedies Procedures in Pakistan” and “Trade Outlook 2017 – Pakistani Perspective” during Annual Meeting of Global Trade Law Advisors – GTLA January 09 – 13, 2017 in Beijing, China, hosted by a Chinese law firm (Jingsh Law Firm).
20. Presented paper on the importance and scope of Anti-Dumping, Subsidies & Countervailing and Safeguard Measures in the context of trade with India and how these trade remedy laws could be meaningfully applied, on “Post MFN Implication for Industrial Sector of Pakistan” before:

• Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI) on March 13, 2012.
• Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) on March 19, 2012.
• Khybar Pakhtunkhwa Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KPCCI) on March 29, 2012.
• Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) on April 03, 2012

21. Presented paper on “Antidumping Laws and its Implications for Pakistan” at a training course on “International Trade and WTO” for senior government officers representing various Federal Ministries, Divisions and Institutions. This course was organized by Pakistan Planning and Management Institute (PPMI), located in Planning and Development Division, Government of Pakistan.
22. Presented paper on WTO Regime and Productive role of Management Accountants in the 9th Management Accountants International Conference (MAIC), organized by the Institute of Cost and Management Accountants of Pakistan (ICMAP), held in Pearl Continental Hotel, Bhurban, Pakistan in the month of July 2002.
23. Presented paper on Trade Remedy Laws of WTO at a seminar organized by ICMAP Islamabad in the month of June 2002.
24. Presented paper on “Antidumping Law and Practices” at:

• Seminar on “Trade Remedial Measures to Protect Domestic Industry” organized by Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) on March 28, 2006.
• Small and Medium Enterprise Development Authority (SMEDA), Lahore on March 29, 2006.
• Bahawalpur Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCCI) in the year 2006.
• Institute of Policy Studies in the year 2005.

During his professional career, Mr. Khan visited Austria, Belgium, China, Czech Republic, France, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Italy, Kenya, Malaysia, Netherlands, Qatar, Russia, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Switzerland, Thailand, Turkey, UAE and USA for advisory services, for attending international events and for holding meetings with international partners with whom different cases/projects were being carried out in international trade matters.

Mr. Khan is a practicing lawyer (Advocate High Court) and member of Islamabad Bar Council, Member of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (CIArb), United Kingdom, Management Accountant and Fellow Member of the Institute of Cost & Management Accountants of Pakistan (ICMAP), Certified Internal Auditor (CIA) from the Institute of Internal Auditors – USA, Fellow Member of the Pakistan Institute of Public Finance Accountants (PIPFA) and Member Rawalpindi-Islamabad Tax Bar Association (RITBA).

Mr. Khan has also done an online course from London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) on “Data: Law, Policy and Regulation.