The European Union has raised several additional questions on WTO trade policy review of Pakistan-2008. It has asked: Is Pakistan determined to implement measures in order to harmonise the labelling and marking system and, if so, what measures does it intend undertaking.
Following the publication of WTO secretariat's report which said: "Pakistan still has no uniform labelling and marking system". It its comments, Pakistan Standards & Quality Control Authority (PSQCA), which is national standards body of Pakistan, said that it was already engaged in harmonisation of labelling and marking system in relation to electrical/electronic products by basing the national standards on IEC standards, thereby fulfilling the WTO/TBT requirements.
Similarly, on agri-based food products the relevant standards on labelling of pre-packaged foods, including 'Halal' declared food, established by WHO/Codex standard is fully adhered to while formulating national standards.
According to WTO report: "The Pakistan National Accreditation Council (PNAC) remains the national accreditation body for testing laboratories and other conformity assessment facilities. It applies international standards and has accredited 24 testing and calibration laboratories, including pharmaceuticals, textiles, chemicals, engineering and food. The PSQCA'a System Certification Centre has recently been established and is to be fully operational shortly." PSQCA has to check brands of over 1,000 licensed industries across the country.
THE OTHER QUESTIONS RAISED BY EU WERE:
-- How is the process of restructuring this agency going to affect the Certification System in Pakistan?
-- Is Pakistan going to enter into agreements on mutual recognition with international certification agencies such as Bureau of International Weights and Measures (BIPR) , Organisation of Legal Metrology (OIML), International Laboratory of Accreditation Cooperation (Ilac), Asia Pacific Laboratories Accreditation Cooperation (Aplac) and International Accreditation Federation (IAF) to comply with requirements like, for example, Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT)?
-- How is the process of restructuring this agency going to affect the Certification System in Pakistan.?
-- PSQCA, being a national apex body by Government Act 1996 and national enquiry point for WTO, has been working on inspection of manufacturer's quality product and guarantees of safety and reliability ultimately to the customer under Pakistan Standards. In this regard PSQCA has launched a certification system scheme. New certification system has been developed and some are under development. Under this scheme documentation process has been completed; trained manpower has been appointed; and assessment process is to be carried out.
The Government has recently approved conformity assessment project. In this regard, certain confidence-building measures (CBMs) have been taken for strengthening of quality infrastructure in order to meet requirement of WTO. Necessary measures have been taken for establishing Conformity Assessment Centre at PSQCA.
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