PSQCA came into operation since 1st December 2000, working with 123 scientists/engineers and 346 supporting staff as self-finance organisation, been given the task of not only formulation of Pakistan Standards, but is also responsible for promulgation thereof.
PSQCA has also been established to advise the Government on standardisation policies, programmes and activities to promote industrial efficiency and development, as well as for consumer protection.
Pakistan Standard in its simplest form, a standard is an agreed upon set of criteria or rules against which things are measured or compared. Although we often speak of "voluntary standards", many standards are referenced in regulation making adherence to them mandatory. Conformity assessment (ie, testing, calibration, inspection, system certification and product certification) is any activity related to the verification of conformance to a standard. Standardisation refers to both standards development and conformity assessment activities. The Pakistan Standards & Quality Control Authority promotes the use of standards, conformity assessment, and standardisation, nationally and internationally.
Pakistan Standards & Quality Control Authority (PSQCA) facilitates the development and use of national and international standards and conformity assessment services to enhance Pakistan's competitiveness and social well-being. The PSQCA carries out a variety of functions intended to ensure the effective and co-ordinated operation of standardisation in Pakistan. It also represents Pakistan's interests on standards-related matters in foreign and international forums. The main function of the Authority is to foster and promote standards and conformity assessment as a means of advancing the national economy, promoting industrial efficiency and development, ensuring the health and safety of the public, protecting the consumers, facilitating domestic and international trade and furthering international co-operation in relation to standards and conformity assessment. PSQCA is also a national member body of International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO), International Electro-technical Commission (IEC), and International Organisation of Legal Metrology (OIML).
Globalisation, competition, innovation, sustainability, and accountability are just some of the many challenges of running a successful business in the 21st century. Standards and conformity assessment play a vital role in helping industry meet rapidly evolving business requirements. Enabling industry to make the most of voluntary standardisation is the PSQCA's business. PSQCA has numerous programs, services and resources designed to support companies of all types and sizes as they strive to secure and ensure a prosperous future. Increasingly, conformance to international or national standards is easing the entry of products and services into foreign and domestic markets as well as reducing technical barriers to trade. Unfortunately Pakistani exports are reducing due to non compliance of international standards and many international trade agreements support the use of international standards and the mutual recognition of conformity assessment results.
Some available surveys regarding the economic impact of the Sanitary and Phyto anitary measures (SPS) and Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) have observed that the magnitude of lost trade due to their compliance are on higher side in Pakistan. Standardisation provides businesses with tools to better manage risk. Not only are organisations increasingly adhering to standards to ensure the safety and efficiency of their own practices and products, they are seeking out suppliers who do the same. Consumers of all types (ie parents, employers, workers, athletes) list health and safety as their top consumer concerns. Adherence to standards and third-party conformity assessment gives the public confidence that the products or systems they purchase will not cause harm when used as intended.
World Standards Day
14th October, 2011
It is an opportune and important time for us to reflect on the role of standards in society and also focus on the theme chosen by ISO that is, "International Standards - Creating Confidence Globally". One of the key lessons which we should learn on this day is to be competitive in global market by facilitating trade against compliance of international standards that is critical for Pakistani industry.
On the occasion of the World Standards Day, PSQCA and other National Standards Bodies around the world take the opportunity to highlight the vital role of standards and their impact on the life of people. The role of standards in establishing quality and process standards, facilitating trade, ensuring safety and health, as well as protecting the environment is underscored. It is also an occasion to pay tribute to all those who have supported and contributed to the national standardisation programmes in their own countries. There are a large number of technical experts, scientists and engineers working with PSQCA on its Standard Committees to elaborate Pakistan Standards and I would like to thank all of them for their important work.
1. PSQCA Objectives:
1. Setting up of standards on quality and dimensions, preparation and promotion of general adoption of Pakistan Standard Specifications, operation of Certification Marks System and co-ordination of the efforts of manufactures and consumers for the improvement of standardisation's and to provide assistance thus in the manufacture of quality products.
2. Wider adoption of Pakistan standards in technical regulations
3. Timely delivery of Pakistan Standards that meet the current and future needs of stakeholders
4. Testing and assessment of industrial raw materials and finished products to establish their quality, grade and composition with reference to national or international standard specifications of quality in various fields like chemical products and formulations, textiles, food items, building materials, mechanical engineering, electrical and electronic goods and appliances etc, and provision of consultancy services to industrial units in regard to the improvement of quality of their products.
5. Inspection and testing of products and services for their quality specifications and characteristics during use and imports and exports purposes.
6. Grant, renewal, suspension, cancellation or withdraw of a license or certificate in relation to use of any of the Authority Marks.
7. Encouragement and implementation of Certification Management System (System and Product Certification) and assistance to local industries to obtain certifications for these systems.
2. PSQCA's Activities and its Impacts
1. Developed more than 6000 Pakistan Standards and adopted 21000 standards from ISO, IEC and OIML as Pakistan Standards.
2. Signed MoUs/MRAs with countries to overcome TBTs (ie, standards and conformity assessment).
3. Regulate 78 items with reference to Public health and safety through technical regulations.
4. Co-ordinated with national, regional and international organisation with reference to Standards and Conformity Assessment.
5. Provided testing and inspection services to industries to facilitate export.
6. Registered inspection bodies in accordance with international guidelines.
7. Participated in international standardisation activities of ISO, IEC, OIML and ASTM.
8. Participated in regional standardisation and conformity assessment activities of South Asian Regional Standardisation Activities (SARSO) and Regional Institute of Standards and Conformity Assessment.
9. Provided awareness on standardisation of product with reference to product design, technology, upgrading and quality control.
10. Establishing the requisite legal and regulatory framework for conformity assessment ie, Conformity Assessment Rules
11. Established Consumer Liaison Office to introduce legal frame work for consumer protection with the assistance of UNIDO-TRTA.
12. Established WTO-Enquiry Point Ensuring access to requirements via WTO enquiry points with the assistance of UNIDO-TRTA.
13. Established System Certification Center
14. Developed internationally recognised and harmonised conformity structures for testing, inspection, product certification and system certification.
15. Established Liaison offices at Rawalpindi, Multan, Hyderabad, Sukkar, Faisalabad and Hub to facilitate industries and consumers.
Expanding international trade
Pakistan's prosperity depends on international trade facilitated by standards and harmonised conformity assessment practices. PSQCA's contributions to Pakistan's trade policy are invaluable. The Government of Pakistan depends on the expertise of the PSQCA in negotiating standardisation components of trade agreements. PSQCA is currently working with its partners at Foreign Affairs and signed bilateral (ie, Saudi Arabian Standards Organisation, American National Standards Institute, ASTM International etc) and multilateral MRAs with regional groups (ie, South Asian Regional Standards Organisation of SAARC and Regional Institute for Standards, Conformity Assessment, Accreditation, and Metrology of ECO Region). Pakistani industry will benefit from improved terms of trade through the application of standards and conformity assessment practices which are relevant to them. With an estimated overall impact of 80 per cent of world trade tied to standards and related conformity assessment activities, PSQCA's promotion of the relationship between standardisation and trade is vital to Pakistan's competitiveness.
The PSQCA has signed various MoU's & MRA's with several international organisations for co-operation in the fields of Science & Technology, Standardisation, Quality Assurance/Management, Product Certification and exchange of technical information, human resource development and capacity building:
-- Islamic Republic of Pakistan and Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
-- PSQCA and Turkish Standards Institution (TSE).
-- MoU signed between PSQCA and ASTM International, USA.
-- MoU signed between PSQCA and ANSI.
-- MoU signed between PSQCA and DiN Germany
-- MoU between PSQCA and Bangladesh Standards and Testing Institution (BSTI)
-- MoU between PSQCA and Yeman Authority for Specification, Standardisation and Quality Control
-- MoU between PSQCA and Sultanate Oman Standards Authority (Approved by PSQCA's BoD)
-- MoU between PSQCA and Institute of Standards and Industrial Research (Approved by PSQCA's BOD and Cabinet)
-- South Asian Regional Standards Organisation of SAARC (MRA)
Regional Institute of Standards, Conformity Assessment and Accreditation of ECO member States (MRA)
-- MoU between PSQCA and SIRIM Malaysia (In progress)
-- MoU between PSQCA and Bureau of Indian Standards (In progress)
-- MoUs between PSQCA and NSBs of Italy, France, etc, (In progress).
-- Stimulating the Pakistan's economy
The application of standards and conformity assessment practices can reduce the regulatory burden, ease trade barriers, and create efficiencies in healthcare and other sectors of the economy. These efficiencies support governmental economic stimulus plans. The exclusion of technology, supporting Pakistani needs, from international standards can be a significant detriment to Pakistan competitiveness. Pakistan will lose market share as competitors are working hard to shape standards to support their own technologies and methods... When our standards in these areas are not accepted elsewhere, we all lose.
Studies Textile sectors of Pakistan and around the world have demonstrated the economic benefit of standards to a nation's prosperity. During this last global recession, many government and industry leaders as well as small and medium sized businesses in textile sectors of Pakistan turned to standardisation solutions (conformance against international standards) to gain a competitive advantage.
Improving Health by supporting Hospitals and Healthcare facilities Standardisation
Health is of special concern to the people of Pakistan. During the past years, healthcare organisations have been facing challenges with respect to improvement of safety and quality healthcare services which they extend to patients. The voice for healthcare quality improvements comes from key stakeholders, such as government, Ministry of Health, healthcare insurance fund, healthcare associations, healthcare professionals, patients and their families, public, etc. Also, international agencies, World Health Organisation (WHO) and World Bank clearly promote improvement of quality and safety of healthcare services. A group coming of medical profession approached PSQCA for the development of hospital and healthcare facilities standards. Keeping in view the need assessment throughout Pakistan, PSQCA is going to develop standards for hospitals and healthcare facilities in accordance with ISO (International Organisation on standardisation) and ISQua (International Society for Quality on Healthcare) guidelines. For the purpose PSQCA has established standardisation wing that proposed the formation of two committees ie:
-- National Standards Committee for Hospitals and Healthcare facilities
-- Technical Committees on primary, secondary and tertiary healthcare Facilities
These technical committees will complete the task within six month's target time.
-- Improving Safety by supporting Bio-Risk Management Standardisation
Safety and Security are of special concern to regulatory authorities. For example, standards can facilitate safe handling of dangerous materials, detection of harmful agents, biometric identification of individuals, robust design of buildings and other structures, protective equipment for emergency responders, reliance of emergency communications systems, risk management and emergency preparedness.
In many fields, regulations concerned with safety refer to standards, either making them mandatory or recognising them as 'approved' to provide means of compliance with statutory requirements. Keeping in view the management problems of Bio-hazards in Pakistan, PSQCA is adopting International standard CWA-15793 CEN (COMITÉ EUROPÉEN DE NORMALISATION) through the formation of new technical committee (or Joint Workshop) (Standardisation Rules, 2008 and ISO guide 21 on standards adoption) on Bio-Risk Management.
The requirements of this standard are generic and are intended to be applicable to all organisations handling biological agents and/or toxins, regardless of type, size and biological agents. This standard takes a risk based approach but it does not employ biological agent risk classification or laboratory safety/containment levels, although such approaches can be entirely compatible with this standard. This bio -risk management standard is based on a management system approach. PSQCA has invited the membership of committee from relevant institutions and 1st meeting will be held in 3rd week of November.
Supporting energy efficiency policy of Government
PSQCA is a valuable contributor to energy efficiency policy of Pakistan by introducing energy efficiency standards for home appliances. Energy conservation and efficiency are the hot issues of Pakistan. The need for the deployment of more efficient energy solutions cannot be overemphasised and this would involve many actors coming from a variety of organisations, businesses, consumers, NGO's and standards organisations- virtually all economic sectors. It is inevitable that the objectives of the disparate interests vary and sometimes even conflict. It is my opinion that this is where standards could play a very important role in meeting the common objectives and promoting good practices.
ISO has developed energy management standards. The European Union has set a target of a 20% energy efficiency improvement by 2020. There is no reason why Pakistan cannot achieve or even exceed this target by the implementation of energy efficiency standards of home appliances.
PSQCA's Product Certification Services
PSQCA's web site (www.psqca.com.pk) is the primary channel used to deliver information about standardisation, PSQCA program developments and related current news and events. As standards experts and providers of certification solutions all of PSQCA's products and services are accessible through PSQCA's web site. PSQCA is self sustained organisation and bear its most of expenses from marking services of 78 products.
PSQCA's WTO National Enquiry Point
As the WTO Enquiry Point, PSQCA serves as the central point of contact in Pakistan for WTO member countries to obtain information on standardisation-related market entry requirements.
In the globalised marketplace following the creation of the World Trade Organisation, a key challenge facing developing countries is a lack of national capacity to overcome technical barriers to trade (TBT) and to comply with the requirements of agreements on sanitary and phyto-sanitary (SPS) conditions, which are now basic prerequisites for market access embedded in the global trading system.
PSQCA have been designated as the National Enquiry Point (NEP) on TBT of Pakistan under the WTO/TBT Agreement. PSQCA under the Articles 10.1, 10.2 and 10.3 of WTO /TBT Agreement have established NEP to facilitate the exporters or any member countries of WTO at PSQCA Head office, Karachi. NEP answers all reasonable queries regarding Standards, Technical Regulations and Conformity Assessment Procedures to the business society, particularly the exporters or any member countries of WTO. PSQCA has formulated National Co-ordination Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade and the membership of the committee were invited from Chamber of Commerce, Trade association, provincial regulators, etc,. Inshallah PSQCA will hold its 1st meeting in 2nd November, 2011. I hope that this Committee will prepare and adopt a national policy on technical regulations (means adoption of standards as technical regulations) and will help to establish a national mechanism for co-ordinating technical regulations for products and services set by different bodies at different levels. Moreover it will also give advise on the setting of technical regulations wherever required.
PSQCA's Trainings and Media Activities
PSQCA is well aware of capacity building of its stakeholders. PSQCA has always tried to give information with reference to standards and conformity assessment through seminars, workshops, conferences, market surveillance by Mobile van, media campaign, special supplements in newspapers etc.
This year, PSQCA has organised 3 one-day workshops and National Conference on "Standards & Technical Regulations (13th April Islamabad, 18th April Lahore, 20th April Karachi, 27th April Islamabad in collaboration with United National Industrial Development Program)" and National Seminar "Standardisation needs of Pakistan" (in collaboration with FPCCI and Karachi Chamber of Commerce). PSQCA also organised training sessions for standard developers and PSQCA's license holders to inform them about the conformity assessment requirements in accordance with Pakistan Standards. Recently, PSQCA has started virtual trainings in collaboration with ASTM International US for different stakeholder keeping in view the International standardisation needs on the basis of survey conducted by PSQCA. Regarding this, 1st webinar was organised on 11th October 4pm from US on standardisation of Textile products.
Future Plans of PSQCA and Way Forward
The growing recognition that standardisation practices are important to product safety has resulted in increased demand for PSQCA's product certification services, programs and expertise. In just under ten years, demand for PSQCA's marking services has grown by 70 % (2001 to 2011). PSQCA's programs and services directly provide solutions for consumers, industry and government by: helping save time and money; increasing public confidence in health, and safety issues; and easing trade barriers.
Identifying Pakistan Needs for Domestic, Regional, and International Standardisation to facilitate trade, support the competitiveness of Pakistan business.
Meet the needs of an evolving regulatory and policy environment by wider adoption of PS standards in technical regulations to safeguard our quality of life, safety, health, and the environment.
Represent fully the range of standardisation stakeholders by enhancing participants' of the public and private sectors in standardisation activities through incentives.
Strengthening the national standardisation infrastructure, in terms of finance and human resource.
Communicate effectively the role and benefits of standards and conformity assessment practices. Voluntary certification marks scheme to be patronised. The presence at different industrial estates be ensured (Establishment of 11 quality control centers).
Solve litigation cases of mandatory certification of cement, sugar and beverages to enhance the marking fee revenue.
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Sr. No Product Certification Activities Numbers
(2010-2011)
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1. Application Received
Total 810
New 257
Renew 453
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2. License Issued
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Total 494
New 261
Renew 233
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3. Inspection Units 1336
4. Sample Collected 7438
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Total 3013
Open Market/Import 4425
Factory Premises
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5. Instruction Notices Issued 1659
6. Warnings Issued 227
Show Cause Notices 84
Revenue Earned (Rs in Millions) 286.656
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