Sugar mills working without licence

All sugar mills of the country are engaged in illegal production and sale of sugar without a licence, causing a loss of Rs100 million to the national exchequer, sources said.

No action has been taken against these sugar mills due to their backing by influential people. Sugar mills despite getting multiple notices from the Pakistan Standards and Quality Control Authority (PSQCA) have not submitted samples for examination of quality, sources said.

According to the 1996 Act of parliament, acquiring an approval certificate from the PSQCA for production and sale of basic food items is mandatory to maintain quality standards and to ensure health safety.

According to PSQCA, during the Musharraf regime sugar mill owners were asked to get registered with PSQCA and to adhere to quality standards issued by the ministry of science and technology.

Despite this, mills are manufacturing and selling sugar without registration and not submitting the amount collected from the consumers as marking fee in the government account, sources said.

They disclosed that the sugar mills never gave samples for examination that is why no guarantee can be given for their standards.

PSQCA has the authority to collect Rs0.05 per Rs1,000 as marking fee on turnover of sugar mills but the mills never paid the fee amounting to Rs100 million.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 1^st, 2010.