ISLAMABAD: The Federal Government has approved Pakistan National Quality Policy (PNQP), 2021 in principle, aimed at enhancement of quality exports for progress of national economy and provision of quality products for the consumers in local markets to ensure the health and safety of people of Pakistan.
Official sources told Business Recorder that recently the Cabinet was apprised that the Ministry of Science & Technology (MoS&T), in collaboration with United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) under Trade Related Technical Assistance (TRTA-II) programme, developed the PNQP with the following primary objectives: (i) to ensure that goods and services emanating from or traded in Pakistan are designed, manufactured and supplied in a manner that matches the needs, expectations and requirements of the purchasers and consumers as well as those of the regulatory authorities in the local as well as in the export markets, and (ii) to contribute in the safety around homes, public and work places and help to protect the environment within Pakistan.
According to the Ministry, the economy of Pakistan could not operate in isolation. Pakistan needs to import and export products and services in order to accelerate its economic and social development. To access foreign markets, Pakistani products and services must, demonstrably meet quality and regulatory requirements of those markets. On the other hand, Pakistan had to ensure that products supplied to the local market, whether imported or locally manufactured, meet basic safety and health requirements. Such requirements could only be met in an effective and efficient way, if a technical regulatory framework based on international good practices was in place.
To give support to both these major requirements, a functional national quality infrastructure, i.e., Standards, Metrology, Accreditation and the concomitant Conformity Assessment Services, enjoying international recognition, needed to be established. The PNQP would greatly contribute towards enhancement of quality exports for progress of national economy and provision of quality products for the consumers in local markets to ensure the health and safety of people of Pakistan.
The required technical regulatory framework and a national quality infrastructure could only be developed properly if the relevant government policies were in place, supported by suitable government actions and active private sector participation. Whereas services rendered to specific sponsors should be paid for by them; it is also quite evident throughout the world that some of the services of the national quality infrastructure had to be continuously funded by government as a “good for country” activity.
The MoS&T maintained that through this National Quality Policy, the Government of Pakistan commits to develop and implement a technical regulation framework that would be followed by all the Ministries and their regulatory authorities. This framework would meet Pakistan’s obligations in terms of the WTO Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT), and it would also be structured in a way that is acceptable to the country’s main trading partners.
The Government of Pakistan is also fully committed to review, re-engineer and strengthen the current National Quality Infrastructure in accordance with international good practices to gain the required recognition for its services. These services were essential to demonstrate the quality of exported products and services and to demonstrate compliance of products falling within the scope of technical regulations in the local market.
The draft Pakistan National Quality Policy was developed and circulated to the relevant stakeholders and had been revised in light of the comments received from stakeholders.
The stakeholders had unanimously recommended that Pakistan must develop a Pakistan National Quality Policy and also submitted their suggestions which were considered while drafting the Policy. The MoS&T as the line Ministry of the three fundamental NQI (National Quality Infrastructure) institutions, namely PSQCA, PNAC, NPSL and the Ministry of Commerce had major roles in the proper implementation of the future PNQP.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2021
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