Chairman Senate Muhammad Sadiq Sanjrani on Thursday said Quality Control and Standardization Authority has failed in provision of the requisite performance for Quality Control in Pakistan and identification and setting up of the new standards in line with the emerging trends in the market. The authority has fallen behind meeting up the international requirements despite the fact that the core objective to enact PSQCA Act, 1996 was to establish an independent regulator to set up standards on quality and dimensions.
He expressed these views while presiding over an important meeting to review progress on Quality Control and Standardization here at Senate Secretariat. Chairman Senate added that PSQCA as a regulator should have been placed under the Cabinet Division, in order to ensure effectiveness and autonomy of the Authority. He approved linkages with the suchlike Authorities which are well established in other countries, including Japan and Germany, to carry out a comparative study. He also approved engagement with the delegation from Japan which will be visiting later this month to work out on the modalities with regard to the base study on the model of Japan Quality Assurance Organization (JQA).
Quality Control and standardization is one crucial area requiring reforms and affecting the lives of people of Pakistan. According to experts, rapid decline in exports of Pakistan is largely due to the disharmony in standardization and lacuna in the Quality Control mechanisms. This was the very first issue of public and national interest taken up suo moto by Senator Muhammad Sadiq Sanjrani, Chairman Senate of Pakistan, after assumption of office in March 2018. Since then the Senate Secretariat has been working under the directions and supervision of Chairman Senate for bringing a model and unified law, based on national realities and international models, for quality control and standardization in Pakistan. Chairman Senate convened a meeting on Wednesday to review the progress made in this regard so far.
A delegation of Government of Japan will be visiting Pakistan soon
The Secretariat made a briefing regarding International Models of quality control and standardization, the existing legislation in Pakistan, role and working of the Pakistan Standardization and Quality Control Authority (PSQCA), parallel forums and relevant stakeholders which need to be consulted for reformation of this area. The Secretariat informed that the available international best practices/models have been approached. Some established and internationally recognized structures are willing to engage with the Senate of Pakistan for reformation/revision of the existing standards and quality control. In this regard, a delegation of Government of Japan will be visiting Pakistan soon.
In a major leap forward, the Senate Secretariat has been asked to initiate the consultation process with the national stakeholders including Ministry of Science and technology, Chambers of Commerce, Trade Organizations, concerned Committee at provincial assemblies, provincial governments and others. The consultative process will be formally initiated by the first week of July. The regional harmonization of the standards in the context of international requirement, would further enhance the intra-regional and extra-regional trade. This would also help in promotion of foreign direct investment in Pakistan, link the global supply chains and export consortia and cluster development and benefit the public at large.
