The business community is urging Pakistan’s Standards and Quality Control Authority (PSQCA) to adopt a proactive approach in removing technical barriers to trade and facilitate smoother trade operations.
President of the Federation of Pakistan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) Irfan Iqbal Sheikh, in a meeting with the newly-appointed Director General of PSQCA Mir Ghulam Farooq Langove, apprised the official of the longstanding and unresolved issues concerning the Technical Barriers to Trade (TBTs). He said that the tyre, aluminium and steel producers have been promised a resolution to their issues time and again by the PSQCA in vain, stressing the need to deal with differentiation and standardisation of raw materials and finished products separately.
Speaking to The Express Tribune, Arif Habib Commodities CEO, Ahsan Mehanti said, “PSQCA can help businesses grow by regulating health hazards. Turnaround times are slow and pending matters stand unresolved.”
“A proactive approach to businesses will improve local trade and exports as well as enable the government to earn more through taxation,” said Mehanti.
The FPCCI president emphasised that the tyre industry in Pakistan should be fully incentivised. “It is one of those industries in the country that can play a major role in import substitution; 80% demand of tyres in the country is still met by imports,” said Sheikh, adding that, “As a matter of fact, domestic producers of tyres can aggressively expand production and promote import substitution, provided the right policy is formulated.”
“PSQCA is well placed to take care of the consumers of Pakistan by controlling the quality of the products, specifically those being produced locally,” said Ismail Suttar, President of Lasbela Chamber of Commerce and Industry, while speaking to The Express Tribune.
“There are many products that require mandatory registration from the quality body, but, unfortunately, the performance of our quality controlling institution requires a paradigm shift in its approach to meet the codex standards specially for food,” insisted the chamber’s chief.
“It is very alarming to see that fake medicines are being marketed. In fact, the potency of medicines is also lower due to import curbs and high cost of imported raw material, forcing pharmaceutical manufacturers to cost-cut in the form of potency reduction,” lamented Zulfikar Thaver, President of Union of Small and Medium Enterprises (UNISAME).
“The PSQCA has the power to enforce discipline with respect to quality benchmarks and counterfeits – all of which has increased due to high inflation,” he said.
The PSQCA DG assured the business community vowing that “The sellers of sub-standard, counterfeit and unhygienic products will be dealt with in accordance with the law.”
Published in The Express Tribune, March 12th, 2023.
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