ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) has been approached to prevent the wastage of billions of rupees worth of flour (atta), the staple food of the masses, lost during handling and transit.
In a letter addressed to the Chief Justice of IHC, Sardar Muhammad Sarfraz Dogar, Chairman of the Pakistan Polypropylene Woven Sack Manufacturers Association, Iskandar Khan, recalled that former IHC Chief Justice Athar Minallah had initiated proceedings under National Interest Case on July 8, 2020. However, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the case remained pending, and after Justice Minallah’s elevation to the Supreme Court, the implementation of the mandatory Gazette Notification S.R.O. 46(KE)/2017, issued on May 19, 2017, to curb flour wastage has not materialised.
The notification made it mandatory to use PSQCA-licensed, environment-friendly, recyclable, and food-grade polypropylene sacks to prevent flour wastage caused by inferior quality, non-food grade bags during handling and transport.
At present, most flour continues to be packed in substandard, non-food grade bags manufactured from hospital waste, crushed batteries, and hazardous plastic. Not only does this cause large-scale wastage of flour, but it also contaminates the staple food, spreading diseases across the country.
According to the association, the non-implementation of the Gazette Notification has resulted in flour wastage valued at approximately Rs 594 billion annually. This represents the wheat cultivated on 752,941 acres of land and 1,014,239 cubic feet of water consumed to grow it each year since 2017.
The price difference between non-food grade and food-grade sacks is minimal compared to the potential saving of Rs 67.2 billion in flour losses during the current year alone.
“We seek the Chief Justice’s intervention to stop the wastage of flour, particularly for the 45 percent of people living below the poverty line, as per World Bank estimates, and the 11 million facing acute food insecurity, as reported by the Food and Agriculture Organization,” Iskandar Khan stated in his letter.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
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