The sustainable development of a country is depends on three pillars of quality infra structure ie Metrology, Standards and Conformity assessment. Governments of developed economies uses these pillars to meet the environmental, social and economic needs without compromising ability of future requirements.
The National Quality Infrastructure (NQI) can be understood as the totality of the institutional framework (public or private) required to establish and implement standardization, metrology (scientific, industrial and legal), accreditation and conformity assessment (inspection, testing and certification) services that are necessary to provide acceptable evidence that products and services meet defined requirements as demanded by authorities (ie technical regulation) or the market place (ie contractually or inferred).
Pakistan national quality infra structure is mainly depend upon three pinnacle organizations namely Pakistan Standards and Quality Control Authority (PSQCA), National Physical and Standards Laboratory (NPSL)and Pakistan National Accreditation Council (PNAC). These three organization are performing functions under the umbrella of Ministry of Science and Technology (MoST).
Pakistan Standards and Quality Control Authority (PSQCA).
PSQCA is dealing with two pillars of quality infra structure ie Standards and Conformity assessment;
Standards: PSQCA is a sole national standard body mandated to formulate, adopt, publish and harmonize the Pakistan National Standards with regional and international standards to emphasize and contribute to enhance the national economy and international competitiveness through its 12 technical divisions ie Agri & Food, Automobile, Civil, Chemical, Electrical, Electronics, Halaal, Information Technology & Information Communication Technology (IT/ICT), Management Standards System (MSS), Mechanical, Textile, Weights & Measure leading with 177 Technical Committees. The Directorate of Standards has established 6094 Pakistan Standards, and adopted ISO 9185, IEC 6202, OIML 2, ASTM 634, Codex Alimentarius (CAC) 21 and Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) 15 Standards. Furthermore, PSQCA is member of International Organization for Standardization (ISO), International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), and International Organization of Legal Metrology (OIML) and MoU Partner of ASTM International. PSQCA is also member of regional Standards Bodies; South Asian Regional Standards Organization (SARSO), Standards and Metrology Institute for Islamic Countries (SMIIC), and ECO Regional Institute of Standardization, Conformity Assessment, Accreditation, and Metrology (RISCAM).
The standards development process is a voluntary activity that depends on achieving consensus amongst all stakeholders (national and provincial both public and private), and which is implemented within a participatory and transparent environment. Based on demonstrated needs of the authorities, industry and the society, relevant international and regional standards will be adopted with minimum deviations so as not to create unnecessary barriers to trade.
Standardization having most effective impact on trade as the standards is a very vibrant tools in transferring the technology from developed to developing country. Such impact provides the opportunity to the developing countries they shall improve technology infrastructure (industrial development) to defy the global market access.
The regulator are preparing, adopting and applying the technical regulations based on standards with a view not to create unnecessary obstacles to international trade and for fulfillment of legitimate objectives ie national security requirements; the prevention of deceptive practices; protection of human health or safety; animal or plant life or health or environment.
Conformity Assessment:
Conformity assessment, according to the definition in ISO/IEC 17000, is the "demonstration that specified requirements relating to a product, process, system, person or body are fulfilled ". It involves sampling, inspection, testingandcertification as a means ofgiving assurance to the parties to atransaction that the product, process, system, body or person does in factconform to the requirements of astandard.
Conformity assessment is stated tobe:
-First party - the supplier ormanufacturer of the productor service, etc. (the party that "claims conformity").
-Second party - the purchaser, orthe party receiving the product orservice (the party that " requiresconformity ")
-Third party - an unbiased party, unrelated to the transaction, whomay be called upon to provide assuranceto both the above partiesregarding the conformity, or otherwise, of the product or service.
PSQCA is functioning as a third party Conformity Assessment Body (CAB) providing the sampling, inspection, testing and certification for voluntary product certification scheme as well as regulatory product certification scheme. The inspections are carried out at all entry port of Pakistan for mandatory 109 products, These activities are carried out as per Pakistan Conformity Assessment Rules 2011. The rules are harmonized with international standards ie ISO/IEC 17065, ISO/IEC 17067 and ISO/IEC 17020.
PSQCA has established state of the art accredited laboratories in Karachi and Lahore for testing of samples. The laboratories in Peshawar are under process for accreditation and the project for Quetta laboratories has been started.
Furthermore, PSQCA is full member of ISO/ CASCO committee that works on issues relating to conformity assessment. CASCO develops policy and publishes standards related to conformity assessment. It should be mentioned that the ISO Committee on conformity assessment, ISO/CASCO, has published a series of ISO/IEC Standards and Guides known as the "CASCO Toolbox".
National Physical and Standards Laboratory
NPSL was established in 1974 under a development project of Pakistan Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (PCSIR), started functioning practically at its present premises at Islamabad in 1983, as a unit of PCSIR.
The most basic necessity of a trading system is metrology - the provision of reliable and accurate measurements. Without the ability to determine length, mass, volume, time and temperature, even the simplest of transactions would be difficult, fair trade would be impossible, and legislation aimed at protecting the health and welfare of citizens would be of no effect. No technical standards could exist for products, because there would be no reliable means of measurementof their performance against requirements.
A national measurement ormetrology system is therefore the firststep in facilitating trade. Metrology is divided into three field; scientific or fundamental metrology, applied or industrial metrology and legal metrology.
Since establishment NPSL has been operating as the apex body in the field of "Metrology" and is the sole custodian of National Standards of Measurement in the country. It is the first accredited laboratory in the country against ISO/IEC 17025 and is equipped with state-of-the-art equipment for measurement, calibration, testing and analysis. Being the National Metrology Institute (NMI) of Pakistan, it has been mandated to acquire, realize, establish, maintain and disseminate coherent national measurement system of base and derived SI units for physical and chemical metrology.
Besides, providing test and calibration services in different fields of metrology, NPSL maintains linkages with International Bureau of Weights & Measures (BIPM), Asia Pacific Metrology Programme (APMP), Regional Metrology Organizations (RMOs) and National Metrology Institutes (NMIs) of the Asia Pacific region. To maintain International Traceability of its national measurement standards it regularly participates in inter laboratory comparisons (ILC) / proficiency testing (PT) programmes and bilateral arrangements with member countries of Asia Pacific Metrology Programme (APMP).
In July 2011 NPSL has signed the CIPM MRA with BIPM, France. This mutual recognition arrangement (MRA) enables NPSL to play a vital role for sound foundation of country's technical / metrology infrastructure.
Pakistan National Accreditation Council.
PNAC was established in 1998 by Cabinet Decision. PNAC has a mandate to accredit conformity assessment bodies (CABs) such as testing and calibration laboratories, medical laboratories, inspection bodies and all types of certification bodies including Halal Certification bodies etc. PNAC has achieved international recognition and is a signatory of the Mutual Recognition Arrangement (MRA) of APLAC and ILAC since 2009 for testing and calibration laboratories. It is also a signatory of the PAC and IAF Multilateral Recognition Agreement (MLA) since 2013 for Quality Management System Certification and Environmental Management System Certification. PNAC has accredited over 133 organization including laboratories, certification bodies and inspection bodies.
Challenges
The world does not see a federal or provincial level government and related regulation while dealing with Pakistan - it sees Pakistan as a country. The international organizationsof quality infrastructure consider one country as one member. The standardization and conformity assessment activities at provincial level will not only create obstacle in interprovincial trade, but also create unnecessary technical barriers to international trade. Pakistan has signed MoUs and MRAs through PSQCA with trading partners for One Standard, One Test report and One certificate accepted to all. This may be hampered in presence of different provincial standards and conformity assessment requirements. These challenges should not be underestimated, as requirements for international recognition are tough. The economy of Pakistan cannot run in isolation. Pakistan needs to import and export products and services to accelerate its economic and social development. All pillars of NQI under federal governmentneed unconditional support from related provincial level authorities to help Pakistan becomes more prosperous.