Agriculture, Food and Drug Control Authority formed

Authority’s secretariat will be set up at Thokar Niaz Beg

LAHORE: The provincial government has issued a notification regarding configuration of the Punjab Agriculture, Food and Drug Control Authority (PAFDA). Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif has been notified as chairman and nutritionist Faqir Muhammad Anjum vice chairman of the authority responsible for coordinating upgrade of drug testing laboratories, fertiliser and pesticide laboratories and food testing laboratories on a par with international standards.

The authority will monitor the samples on more than 250 parameters. On Friday, Steering Committee on PAFDA Chairman Shamail Ahmad Khwaja, the additional chief secretary, chaired a meeting of nominated PAFDA members.

He apprised them of progress made on the initiative. The meeting discussed the establishment of PAFDA Secretariat adjacent to the Punjab Forensic Science Agency at Thokar Niaz Beg. The secretariat will be set up on 64 kanals. It was agreed that the Steering Committee and the PAFDA members would submit their recommendations to the chief minister in a week or two.

The nominated members of PAFDA include Agriculture Minister Faruukh Javed, Food Minister Bilal Yasin, Adviser to Chief Minister on Health Khwaja Salman Rafique, Planning and Development Board Chairman Jahanzeb Khan, Government College University Faisalabad Institute of Home and Food Director Faqir Muhammad Anjum, Law Secretary Abul Hassan Najmee, Food Secretary Pervaiz Ahmad Khan, Agriculture Secretary Muhammad Mahmood, Finance Secretary Shaukat Ali, Primary and Secondary Healthcare Secretary Ali Jan Khan, Specialised Healthcare and Medical Education Secretary Najam Ahmad Shah, Forensic Science Agency Director General Muhammad Ashraf Tahir (who has been given additional charge of PAFDA DG), Punjab Food Authority DG Bilal Ahmad Butt, Infrastructure Development Agency CEO Mujahid Sherdil, Naeemuddin Mian, Farzana Chowdhary, Masood Sadiq Khan, Muhammad Rashid and Muhammad Afzal.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 16^th, 2016.