Punjab overhauls food safety with digital inspections: SACM Salma
LAHORE: Special Assistant to the Chief Minister Punjab on Food Safety and Consumer Protection Salma Butt said on Monday that the government was overhauling the food safety regime through digital inspections, greater transparency and stronger enforcement while ensuring that affordable wheat flour and bread remained a key public policy priority.
Speaking at the Business Recorder Forum on “From Policy to Practice Bridging Food Safety Regulation and Industry Compliance”, she acknowledged shortcomings in the existing regulatory framework, saying the government was addressing loopholes through technology-driven reforms. She said inspections were being digitized to minimise human discretion, while a restaurant star-rating system and live kitchen monitoring would soon be introduced to improve hygiene standards and consumer confidence.
Describing the private sector as a partner rather than an adversary, Salma Butt said effective food safety regulation required close collaboration between regulators and industry. She stressed that the government’s foremost responsibility was to ensure the availability and affordability of essential commodities, particularly wheat flour and bread, for low-income households.
Referring to last year’s wheat market volatility, she said Punjab produced surplus wheat but prices still surged after market liberalisation because of hoarding and speculative practices. The government, she said, intervened through raids, warehouse audits and enforcement of anti-hoarding laws to stabilise the market. She also highlighted inadequate grain storage infrastructure despite Pakistan producing over 60 million metric tonnes of grain annually.
She said food businesses must comply with basic standards relating to hygiene, traceability, expiry dates and product labelling. She argued that fines alone were often ineffective because businesses simply passed the additional cost on to consumers through higher prices. Instead, she called for a more transparent and technology-based regulatory framework featuring risk-based inspections and continuous monitoring. She said consumers had the right to know when businesses violated food safety laws and that public accountability encouraged better compliance.
Beverage Industries Association Chairman Dr Faisal Hashmi said Coca-Cola and Pepsi together accounted for around 80pc of Pakistan’s formal beverage market and had invested more than USD1 billion over the past decade. He identified counterfeit beverages as the industry’s biggest challenge and urged the PFA to launch an effective crackdown on manufacturers of fake products. He assured the industry’s full support in such operations and also called for faster regulatory approvals to facilitate legitimate businesses.
Speaking on behalf of the dairy industry, Tetra Pak Pakistan Director Corporate Affairs Noor Aftab criticised the taxation regime, saying Pakistan imposed an 18pc General Sales Tax (GST) on dairy products despite dairy products being exempt from such taxes in many countries. He said only about 5pc of Pakistan’s milk market consisted of processed milk, while the remaining 95pc relied on loose milk. He also pointed out that an additional 20pc Federal Excise Duty (FED) on juices resulted in an effective tax burden of around 42pc on the sector.
Nestlé Pakistan Head of Corporate Affairs Sheikh Waqar Ahmad echoed concerns over high taxation, counterfeit products and the existence of different food standards across provinces. He said counterfeit products were affecting not only beverages but also milk powder and other dairy products. He added that Nestlé procured around 400 million litres of milk and 50,000 tonnes of locally grown fruit annually, but higher taxes, counterfeit products and other market distortions had adversely affected sales, hurting companies, government revenues and farmers alike.
Chairman of the Progressive Group of Flour Millers Muhammad Khaleeq Arshad called for complete liberalisation of the wheat market. He said wheat imports, whenever required, should be handled by the private sector rather than the Trading Corporation of Pakistan (TCP), arguing that private importers could respond more quickly than government agencies. He also urged the government to provide farmers with free irrigation water, quality seed and fertiliser subsidies to improve productivity, claiming wheat yields had declined by 8-12pc this year.
Representing the retail sector, Muhammad Sheikh urged regulators to focus more on awareness about compliance rather than imposing heavy penalties. He said organised retailers were willing to work closely with regulators but called for uniform enforcement across both organised and un-organised markets to ensure a level playing field.
Dr. Anjum Fayyaz from the Lahore University of the Management Sciences (LUMS) and Director Business Recorder Research also shared their views on the topic.
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