The WTO-Quality Control Laboratory (WTO-QCL) of the University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, UVAS, Lahore, has earned accreditation from the Pakistan National Accreditation Council (PNAC) on becoming capable of determining origin of livestock commodities and food ingredients of animals.
With this technology in place at the UVAS, the WTO-QCL will be able to detect and stop transformation of diseases, also through the trade of exchange of animals, like goat, sheep, buffaloes, dogs, cats, tigers with other counties. WTO-QCL's Professor Dr Khushi Muhammad said that the university was assigned the project "Quality Control Laboratory by Punjab Government (2003-04 to 2007)" for testing livestock and food of animals' origin with reference to the World Trade Organisation (WTO).
He said the Rs 99.998 million worth project was completed within time in phases - construction of building, acquisition of necessary equipment and induction of trained staff at lab in line with the instructions and of international standards. Acknowl-edging Vice-Chancellor Professor Dr Muhammad Nawaz's support, Professor Muhammad said the university was able to set up first-ever quality control lab to determine the origin of livestock commodities and food ingredients of animal and plant origin for national health and security reasons.
He said general public was not aware of hidden and harmful effects of many compounds and food of animal origin on human health. Therefore, he said, the WTO emphasised the standardised framework of quality control of food items of animal origin for export or import purposes He said the laboratory would also take care of Technical Barriers on Trade (TBT).
Dilating upon the indiscriminate spray of pesticides on cotton and rice crops, Professor Dr Khushi Muhammad said as residues of these pesticides are transformed to animal or poultry through consumption of feed containing chemically contaminated seed cake and the rice.
Professor Dr further added that some effects such as death, acute respiratory illness, skin rashes, toxic hepatitis are apparently visible while some time hidden serious effects such as immuno-suppression, reproductive/fetal abnormalities, teratogenic, mutagenic /carcinogenic and reduce growth are not uncommon.
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