KARACHI: Pakistan Standards and Quality Control Authority (PSQCA) has released a new list of 168 essential items, including 61 new products on the mandatory list.
These essentials include food and non-food items. Including medical X-ray equipment, shaving cream, hair cream, car and bicycle tires and rims, sanitary tabs, polypropylene plywood, UPS, sound system, coffee, fruit juice, fortified weight floor, aluminium products, electric switches, secondary sales and Washing machines, electric ironing, plugs and electric sockets, bio-fertilizers (fertilizers), water and gas supply pipes, lighters, communication cables, lens frames, paint brushes, surgical gloves, microwave ovens, air conditioners, televisions, olives and other oils are also included.
The officials said special teams have been formed across the country in this regard. PSQCA will be authorized to check complete quality of the products as per Pakistan standards specifications.
Under the direction of Director General PSQCA Abdul Aleem Memon, conformity assessment wings are compiling records across the country.
If a unit does not submit an application for a license within 14 days, legal action will be taken against it, including confiscation of stock and closure of the unit or factory, which may result in imprisonment.
A series of raids will be launched after the approval of the Ministry of Science and Technology. PSQCA teams can go to the market or store at any time and seize.
DG PSQCA said that the inclusion of new items is not only a milestone for the organisation but also the supply of quality items licensed by PSQCA to the public will now be ensured. He further said that special teams of PSQCA would ensure quality by conducting open market sampling at any time.
He cautioned the new product makers to get license as soon as possible and bring themselves into the mainstream of PSQCA. Consumer protection will now be ensured and no recommendation or pressure on product quality will be accepted. He asked the officers of the organisation to work honestly.
Under the PSQCA Act 6 of 1996, holding and selling stocks will be considered illegal, substandard by brands that are not licensed by the PSQCA, and it is also prohibited to possess or sell products that are not PSQCA licensed.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2021