FOOD
Government should remove small irritants faced by the businessmen before they grow to an unmanageable level. In the food sector, the federal government should intervene to resolve the issues of quality standards between Punjab Food Authority (PFA) and Pakistan Standard Quality Control Authority (PSQCA).
There is no denying the fact that the PFA has made commendable efforts to ensure better quality of food products. It has in fact broken the myth that only domestic food processors are marketing substandard foods. It in fact apprehended numerous international food chains and fined them. Foreign principals of these chains in fact apologised to the PFA on the lapses.
The efforts of PFA have shaken global food processors operating in Pakistan. Their contention is that PSQCA is the only authority that sets quality standards for every product that is produced in Pakistan and they are following those standards. However, they ignore the fact that every province has a right to set their own quality standards. The authorities like PSQCA set quality standards globally for non-edible food products. In case of food and edibles, a separate authority operates as regulator. In the United States, Food and Drug Authority regulates drugs and processed food. This is an anomaly that should be addressed.
For the time being, the PSQCA and PFA should sit down and go through each other’s disputed regulation on food. They should study the best practices and then act accordingly. If some regulations are mild that could impact the health of our citizens then those should be strengthened. The multinationals that are agitating this issue should revisit their processes and compare them with the procedures and precautions adopted for similar products by their plants in Europe and the United States.
If the procedures they adopt in Pakistan are inferior to the ones they adopt in developed economies then certainly the end products would also be inferior. This is against the social corporate responsibility mantra often orchestrated by the multinationals. These multinationals for sure must be following the standards set by PSQCA, but if they are inferior standards then as responsible producers they should have informed the authority of the flaws. There should be no compromise on quality in case of food and medicines.
This dispute resembles what was experienced in case of drug regulations immediately after the 18th amendment. It is not prudent to set different standards on edible products that could be easily moved across provinces like the drugs. Many food processors produce products in one province and distribute around the country. If each province started setting its own standards, it would be difficult for the manufacturer to comply with all. The federal government should set up a Central Food Authority after similar consultations that were carried out while forming the Pakistan Drug Regulatory Authority. This way, a high standard for food products would be set for all citizens of Pakistan.
As far as PSQCA is concerned, look at the fate of gas appliances available in the market claiming compliance with PSQCA standards, while all are substandard and gas guzzlers. We should not take this risk in case of food and establish a separate food regulatory authority. We hear stories about the substandard cylinder blasts for which the standards are fixed by the PSQCA. The authority it seems is over-burdened and lacks the capacity to conduct raids for ensuring compliance to standards.
Quality of food is as important as the quality of drugs. It is true that Pakistani consumers have developed immunity against substandard food products that are being openly sold in the streets, but change is on the horizon as more food processing industries enter the Pakistani market. Food sector attracted over $400 million foreign investment last fiscal - the second highest after power sector. This is in addition to millions of dollars of investment that already operating international food brands made in Pakistan.
The PFA has been operating in the province for the last five years. It has unearthed many malpractices in the food sector. It raided the kitchens of all major hotel chains in Punjab and fined them for ignoring food standards from unhealthy storage to filth in the storage. These chains paid the fine and improved their hygiene. The PFA forced the restaurants and the sweet shops for periodic health check of their workers. The workers are now required to wear hat and gloves during their duty.
The packaging of the food outlets has been improved. Now food, bakery items and sweets are supplied in food grade plastic containers. This function was ignored by PSQCA. The food authority looks at all aspects of food that is served in the market. It ensures that no rotten meat is supplied or served; it also ensures that the slaughtered animals and poultry are healthy; above all it also ensures that the consumers are served halal food.
It was PFA that unearthed the serving of donkey meat in Punjab. It conducts raids on milk outlets. Even the processed milk suppliers were asked to stop using certain harmful substances during processing of milk. The Supreme Court took notice of this malpractice. The PFA also apprehended producers of fake milk made by adding non-milk compounds.
It was PFA that forced even the multinationals not to declare tea whiteners as milk. The PSQCA does not have the capability to find out these discrepancies. Food items can get sour due to bad storage, use of unhealthy containers, use of non-food colours, and many other factors only a strong national food authority could effectively control this. The Sindh government recently has also activated its food authority. Recently it found during a raid that a highly reputed restaurant of Karachi was making its dishes from dog meat. The whole raid was shown on TV. This shows that we need vigilance against substandard foods throughout the country. National Food Authority should have heads of provincial food authorities as members and a person from among them as its chairman. The authority should formulate the food laws. It may take help from some provincial food authorities that have already been active in this field. The compliance of these laws should be left to the provincial food authorities that have developed capacities to ensure compliance. Food like health is certainly a provincial matter but the laws governing food hygiene and purity must be drafted at national level in consultation with the provinces.
Till that body is formed the provincial governments should keep vigilance and treat both the multinational and national companies equally. If the multinational food processors are complying with the FDA or European standards they have nothing to worry. However, if the standards are compromised they should not hide under the quality standards set by PSQCA that lacks capacity. We cannot compromise the health of our citizen if there are flaws in certain regulations that have been corrected by a provincial body.
The writer is a staff member
