Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi has directed Ministry of Science and Technology to prepare a detailed proposal for uniform food standards across the country and include it in agenda of next meeting of the Council of Common Interests (CCI) for discussion and approval by all provincial chief ministers.
After 18th constitutional amendment, all provinces have been struggling to make their separate food standards which, industrialists say, is leading to confusion and making the matter more complicated than ensuring food quality.
The prime minister issued the directive following a meeting with a delegation of Pakistan Dairy Association wherein he was briefed about issues and challenges faced by the food and dairy sectors of the country. "We want to make Pakistan a dairy exporting country," the prime minister said during the meeting.
A participant of the meeting told Business Recorder on Wednesday that the prime minister was suggested to constitute a federal food standards body to ensure uniform food standards in all the four provinces. He has also sought a detailed presentation from the dairy association on implementation of minimum pasteurization law in the federal capital.
The delegation led by Syed Yawar Ali, Chairman PDA and Nestle Pakistan Ltd, also suggested the prime minister to introduce tax incentives to promote growth of the dairy sector, besides constituting a Milk Board to ensure quality of the product.
He directed that a committee of all stakeholders be constituted under the minister for food security to look into the proposal of establishing the Milk Board in the country. Minister for National Food Security Sikandar Hayat Bosan would give a briefing on constitution of the Milk Board to the cabinet in its next meeting. The dairy sector representatives say if the board is constituted, this would help increase capacity of the farmers, besides regulating price of the product in the country.
According to the proposal, the Milk Board would consist of 24 members-12 members of the government, five members each from dairy sector and farmers community and two relevant academics. A set of different committees would also be constituted under the board, including milk standard committee and milk consumption committee, to also ensure rights of the consumers.
The board, if constituted, will meet after every three months to review progress, challenges and issues related to the industry and take measures for further improvement based on feedback from the consumers. The prime minister assured the delegation that all their suggestions would be duly considered and all possible facilitation would be extended to the dairy and food sectors for betterment of the farmers, industry and the consumers.
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