Govt approves sweeping fisheries reforms, lifts joint venture ban in EEZ

June 12, 2026 (MLN): Pakistan's government is pushing ahead with a sweeping overhaul of the fisheries sector's regulatory framework.

The Cabinet Committee on Regulatory Reforms (CCoRR) approved a series of structural changes under the 5th Regulatory Reforms Package designed to dismantle bureaucratic barriers to investment, exports, and growth.

The committee found the sector encumbered by 55 regulatory requirements across 24 departments, 22 licenses requiring periodic renewals, and a document submission burden of 266 paper.

Approximately 77% of which are duplicated across departments while identifying paper-based processes, absence of central registration, and poor inter-departmental data sharing as core systemic failures.

Federal Minister for Board of Investment Qaiser Ahmed Sheikh chaired the meeting, attended by Federal Minister Jam Kamal Khan, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister Haroon Akhtar Khan, senior BOI officials, regulatory reform team members, and relevant stakeholders, according to a press release issued.

The regulatory mapping exercise that underpinned the review exposed the scale of inefficiency in a sector that participants described as a high-value niche market with significant untapped export potential with tuna exports alone estimated to represent a $2 billion opportunity.

Minister Qaiser Ahmed Sheikh observed that the excessive regulatory burden has been a key driver of export constraints in the sector.

Further, he noted that meaningful reforms remain incomplete despite earlier efforts during his tenure at the Ministry of Maritime Affairs.

SAPM Haroon Akhtar Khan stressed that overlapping mandates and process duplication constitute major structural impediments requiring fundamental reform.

Minister Jam Kamal Khan also flagged that compliance gaps persist despite heavy regulation, pointing to deeper systemic inefficiencies.

International expert Scott Jacobs argued that the current framework appears designed for the convenience of regulators rather than businesses, and called for adoption of international best practices including one-window operations and further simplification.

The Board of Investment proposed reforms covering elimination of redundant requirements, consolidation of multiple processes into simplified procedures, and digitisation of key approvals, with broad stakeholder agreement secured on the need for both simplification and digitisation.

A significant policy shift was also agreed upon: the committee reached consensus to lift the existing ban on joint ventures in the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), after the Ministry of Maritime Affairs was unable to satisfactorily justify the restriction's continuation.

Joint ventures will be permitted subject to conditions including majority Pakistani shareholding, use of Pakistani-flagged vessels, and mandatory technology transfer, a move the committee framed as essential to attracting foreign direct investment and enabling skills development.

Operational bottlenecks including boat registration across multiple authorities, fishing permits, and berthing charges were also taken up, with the committee directing their simplification.

All relevant federal and provincial stakeholders are to be notified and implementation committees constituted within 30 days, with the committee stressing that reforms must be treated as a priority.

Discussion on the Dairy & Beverages sector  the other focus area of the 5th package was deferred to the next meeting.

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