Friday, April 1 2005 09:21 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Washington: The United States has said that Pakistan's law and order problems and its failure to protect intellectual property rights has become a "barrier" to trade with the country.

"Businesses operating in Pakistan have repeatedly called for strengthening law and order. Corruption and a weak judicial system remain recurrent and substantial disincentives to investment," US Trade Representative (USTR) office said in its annual report on trade barriers.

The report alleged that "Contract enforcement", was difficult in Pakistan.

A longstanding investment dispute between a major US multinational company and a local partner had raised concerns about the sanctity of international arbitration awards under contracts between private parties.

The report pointed out that Pakistan's ranking in Transparency International's Corruption Perception Index dropped from 92 out of 133 countries in 2003 to 129 out of 145 countries listed in 2004.

"Political influence in procurement decisions, charges of official corruption, and long delays in bureaucratic decision-making have been common in the past," the report said.

It added that Pakistan's failure to adequately protect intellectual property constituted one of the most severe barriers to trade and investment". The US Government had placed Pakistan on the "Special 301" Watch List every year from 1989 to 2003 due to widespread piracy.