Law, Justice Division''s observation: PSQCA competent to fulfil commitments made under global deals

Law and Justice Division has observed that the Pakistan Standards and Quality Control Authority (PSQCA) on behalf of the government is bound to fulfill the commitments made under international agreements, including the World Trade Organisation (WTO).
Sources said the said observations have been made by the Law and Justice Division through a reply filed by it in the court on behalf of the Ministry of Science and Technology and the PSQCA in response to a writ petition (WP No. 2190/2017).
Law and Justice Division added that the Pakistan Standards and Quality Control Authority (PSQCA) Act 1996 should be implemented throughout Pakistan with the help of other provincial authorities for ensuring a uniform standard and quality control mechanism of processed and packed foods throughout Pakistan.
On the same issue, the Ministry of Science and Technology has said that the issue pertains to the wrongful and patently illegal exercise of jurisdiction by the Punjab Food Authority (PFA). The mechanism and pattern of conformity assessment being followed by the PFA is not in consonance with the constitutional requirement of having a single market in the country as well as the international commitments made by Pakistan, under the WTO agreements. The DG PFA was therefore, advised to coordinate with the national standard / conformity assessment body, ie, PSQCA to harmonize standards as well as conformity assessment procedure being followed, duly notify the same and refrain from any action, which is not in consonance with the commitments under the TBT Agreement or which may impede the executive authority of the federation. However, following issuance of the aforementioned advice, the PFA has published another public notice directing the manufacturers of processed and packed foods to get their products registered with the PFA failing which the unregistered products will not be allowed to be sold in territory of province of Punjab.
The ministry has been consistently highlighting to the government of Punjab the need to harmonize the standards formulated by the PFA being at variance with the national standards formulated by the PSQCA and to clarify regarding the respective domains of the federal and provincial governments in respect of conformity assessment mechanisms. The situation is creating confusion amongst the business community members, adversely affecting the ease of doing business in the country and is likely to hamper inter-provincial trade, contrary to the spirit of Article 151 of the Constitution, the Ministry of Science and Technology added.
According to the Law and Justice Division''s comments submitted with the Islamabad High Court, the PSQCA on behalf of government of Pakistan is bound to fulfill the commitments in regard to international agreements such as World Trade Organization (WTO).
It is important that the PSQCA Act 1996 should be implemented throughout Pakistan with the help of other provincial authorities for ensuring a uniform standard and quality control mechanism throughout Pakistan, and the provincial authorities such as PFA should amend their acts to the extent that they are overlapping or contradictory with the PSQCA Act 1996, in the interest of justice, uniformity and case of doing business throughout the country. Explaining the mandate and scope of the PSQCA vide its Act of 1996, Law and Justice Division said that PSQCA is a statutory authority created under the PSQCA Act VI of 1996 and responsible for the formulation of Pakistan standards, quality testing and conformity assessment of the products falling in the list of mandatory items (technical regulations).
The mandate of PSQCA as a regulatory authority is covered under the Entries 3, 25, 27, 32, 39, 54 and 59 of Part-I and entries 6, 12, 15, and 18 of Part-II of the Federal Legislative List in the Fourth Schedule of the Constitution of Islamic Republic of Pakistan.
Entry No. 6 of Part II of the Federal Legislative List of the Constitution inserted vide the Constitution (Eighteenth Amendment) Act 2010, empowers the Parliament to exclusively legislate with respect to "all regulatory authorities, established under Federal Law". The PSQCA Act is, therefore, a validly existing federal law, it said.
Under Article 143 of the Constitution, laws enacted by the Parliament have been given n overriding effect over the laws enacted by a provincial assembly of any province, by stipulating that in case of any inconsistency between the two, it is the Act of Parliament that would prevail.