ISLAMABAD: The dairy sector has expressed serious concern over the import of non-compliant dairy products from Iran which are freely available at retail stores of the local markets of Pakistan.

According to a communication of the Pakistan Dairy Association to the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) here on Tuesday, the association bring immediate attention to the matter of non-compliant imported dairy products, ie, UHT dairy creams, liquid milk, flavoured milk, etc, mainly Iranian origin, being sold in Pakistan through parallel trade routes.

In addition to causing heavy revenue losses to the national exchequer, this product is clearly a violation of labelling requirements of SRO 237-Ministry of Commerce, applicable quality and nutrition standards of provincial and federal food authorities.

Despite legal requirement to check imported processed food products as per Pakistan standards and existence of Pakistan standards for the aforementioned dairy products, unregulated and non-compliant dairy products are available in market which can be detrimental to health. This disparity of enforcement is not just unfair with the dairy industry of Pakistan (leading to uncompetitive market) but also with the public at large.

In this regard, the dairy sector has observed (inter alia) the legality issues in the aforementioned dairy products: Design Infringement; labelling anomalies; import irregularities; food safety risk and violation of SRO.237

Therefore, the industry has requested the government to ensure compliance of imported dairy products as per applicable standards as locally-regulated dairy products. Any product, imported or locally-manufactured, must meet the minimum applicable standards for the greater good of consumers of Pakistan as well as for promoting fair business practices, the industry said.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2022