Unresolved differences: Food secretary, PFA chief clash on appellate powers

Former wants commissioners to hear appeals against food safety officers’ decisions

LAHORE: Punjab’s top food officials are unable to agree on who should be empowered to hear appeals against the decisions of Punjab Food Authority (PFA) food safety officers, The Express Tribune has learnt.

PFA food safety officers have the authority to impose fines on food venders and food services providers, or to seal any food establishments they find lacking in terms of food safety. While the Punjab food secretary prefers empowering commissioners to hear appeals against the officers’ decisions, the authority’s director general is in favour of a centralised appellate structure, sources said.

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For the food secretary, allowing commissioners to hear appeals can ensure that issues faced by residents of the province’s remote areas, particularly in southern Punjab, are resolved quickly. However, the PFA DG fears such a move could negatively affect the authority’s performance. The issue will now be decided by the chief minister and chief secretary, the sources added.

The PFA board had, some years back, agreed to empower the food secretary to hear appeals against decisions made by the PFA DG. Later, food secretary Shaukat Ali stopped hearing such appeals upon learning from legal experts that the authority to grant appellate powers rested with the provincial government, not the PFA board.

A few days ago, PFA DG Mohammad Usman Younas requested Food Secretary Zafar Nasrullah Khan to send a formal summary to the provincial government to confirm appellate status to the authority, sources said. According to them, Younas proposed empowering the PFA DG to hear appeals against food safety officers’ decisions. The food secretary, in turn, should be empowered to hear appeals against the PFA DG’s decisions, he recommended.

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Zafar, however, told the PFA head that his suggestion ran counter to the provincial government’s vision to end the inconvenience Punjab residents face by being compelled to travel to Lahore for official matters, sources said. The provincial government has already started work on establishing a separate secretariat for southern Punjab, he pointed out. The food secretary stressed that concentrating appellate powers solely with the PFA DG would complicate matters for the residents of remote areas and as such, a better alternative would be to empower commissioners to hear appeals against food safety officers’ decisions. Any appeals against commissioners’ decisions could be heard by the PFA DG and food secretary, he suggested. Senior PFA officials, however, disagreed with Zafar’s suggestion and maintained that the current centralised appellate system was a major factor in the authority’s seamless performance, according to sources. The officials also expressed apprehension that granting appellate powers to commissioners could make the system vulnerable to political pressure and interference, they said. Both the PFA DG and food secretary have presented their positions to the chief secretary, the sources added.Meanwhile, sources revealed that the Punjab government has decided to appoint Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf MPA from PP-15 Rawalpindi as the PFA chairman. The summary for the appointment has been submitted to the chief minister and a formal notification to this effect is expected to be issued in the coming days. 

Published in The Express Tribune, July 30^th, 2019.