PSQCA takes notice of unregistered honey sale

Pakistan Standards & Quality Control Authority (PSQCA) has issued notices to the local unregistered local honey brands at Honey Market situated at Chamkani on main G T Road. In one of such notices issued to Bajaur Honey, the PSQCA has stated the product is not certified by the authority and lacking any guarantee of standard. Therefore, it has been declared prohibited in the larger public interest.
All shopkeepers of the market have been directed that the purchase/selling and its stockpiling is a criminal act. Therefore, they should stop their business with immediate effect and should be destroyed or returned to the suppliers forthwith and dispatch its receipt to the local office of the authority. The notices also state that PSQCA is a federal organization working under the supervision of the Ministry of Science and Technology, which prepares standards of edibles and other products to bring their quality at national and international standard. Under Section 14 of PSQCA Act 1996, the manufacturing, stockpiling of items, which are unregistered/lacking the logo of the PSQCA and the violators are liable to minimum imprisonment of one year or minimum penalty of Rs 50,000 or both.
On the request of the local SMEs, carrying business, an officer of the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Authority (SMEDA) has visited the office of PSQCA and briefed them about the potentials of the honey cluster. The authority has been told that the cluster has great potentials in terms of employment generation and has created around 1280 direct job opportunities while 5115 as indirect employment opportunities. There are total 350 SMEs running their businesses in the cluster, contributing to the economic development of the area.
SMEDA has proposed taking certain measures including awareness, seminars and trainings for the capacity building of the cluster. It has also offered joint interventions in organizing awareness sessions regarding the role of PSQCA and its standards, imparting technical training about quality control of honey and its products to comply with PSQCA standards and registration with PSQCA. On contact, Rahmatullah Memon, a spokesman for PSQCA said that honey is included in the essential item and prior license for doing the business is must. Otherwise, the activity will be illegal. He said that initially, the authority served a notice of 15-day notice for the compliance, which will be extended for another period of two weeks.