Packaged food: PFA aims to take over product certification

Authority drafting letter to Punjab govt to take charge of licensing and certification.

LAHORE:

The Punjab Food Authority (PFA) is planning to take over product certification and licensing within the province and make it mandatory for all packaged food items.

Product certification and licensing is currently the concern of the Pakistan Standards and Quality Control Authority (PSCQA), but the job is to be devolved to provincial authorities as part of the 18th Amendment.

PFA officials told The Express Tribune that they were drafting a letter to the Punjab government seeking certification and licensing authority for packaged food items.



The move will result in many small manufacturers based in Lahore being brought under the certification and licensing regime, they said. Manufacturers based outside of Lahore but who sell products in Lahore will also be required to apply for certification.

The food products will continue to be tested at federal labs, since the PFA does not have the infrastructure to conduct its own tests.

The certification will be similar to that offered by the Pakistan Standards and Quality Control Authority.

Under the PSQCA Act of 1996, the authority charges Rs1,000 for a product certification mark, Rs5,000 for license fees, 0.05% of the ex-factory price of a manufactured item for marking fee, and Rs5,000 for inspection fee. However, PSCQA certification was not mandatory.

The PFA initially plans to start certifying ketchup products, followed by cooking oil. All certified products would be branded with a PFA monogram. The authority already issues licences to factories that produce packaged food. PFA officials said this licensing was more about checking for hygiene and charging a fee for doing business. It did not look into product quality.

According to the PFA, there are 221 factories in Lahore city that produce packaged food items. The largest number of these factories is located in Nishter Town, with 85, followed by Allama Iqbal Town, with 52. None of these factories are certified.

PFA Director General Asad Islam Mahani said that the certification would enhance the quality of packaged food available in Lahore. Manufacturers who did not comply would be blacklisted and their names would be published on the PFA website.

The certification would be required for all packaged items, and each product would be certified independently, he said.

Mahani said that the PFA’s labs do not have the capability to conduct testing, so that would be done at the Pakistan Council of Scientific and Industrial Research labs or other government labs.

He said that the 18th Amendment put the PFA in charge of licensing in the province. The aim in doing this was to improve product quality, not mint money, he added.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 29^th, 2013.