Faced with the challenges in meeting sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) requirements which are increasingly resulting in confiscation and rejection of Pakistani agro-based consignments internationally, the government has decided to establish the National Food Safety, Animal and Plant Health Authority. Speaking at a consultative workshop on the National Food Safety, Animal and Plant Health Regulatory Authority Bill, Minister of State for National Food Security and Research Moazzam Ali Khan Jatoi said Pakistan needs to redefine and reprioritize the broader parameters of agricultural production.
Pakistan, he said, is facing stiff challenges in meeting SPS requirements in international trade as a result of which agro-based consignments, frequently face confiscations and rejections at destinations, which not only cause economic loss to the exporters but at the same time puts a question mark on the credibility of Pakistan as an exporter of quality produce.
Emphasizing the need for a sharper focus on the improvement of food safety, animal and plant health conditions, he noted that the failure to address wide variety of challenges faced by agro-based sector can be attributed to the lack of an integrated system of official controls at the federal and provincial level.
The workshop was organized by the National Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (NAPHIS) under the Ministry of National Food Security and Research, with the support of the European Union (EU) funded second Trade Related Technical Assistance (TRTA-II) Programme.
Pakistan faces a number of problems caused by weak SPS controls resulting in export of substandard products which are increasing being rejected. Lack of compliance with international requirements result in discounted prices for food and agro products. Non-compliant of SPS rules undermine market confidence and lack of investment in value addition.
The participants were briefed that the current legislation and institutional framework for official controls of food safety, animal health and plant health were inadequate and not sufficiently coherent to address the wide variety of challenges faced by agro-food sector. The main failure is the lack of an integrated system of official SPS controls at the federal and provincial levels.
The draft bill will provide a national legal framework for SPS regulatory controls, and help establish a new authority to provide an integrated national system of official controls for food safety, animal health, plant health and other related aspects to monitor SPS conditions and levels of compliance with technical regulations.
The new body will provide unitary coordination of national system of official controls for food safety, animal health, and plant health. Make national risk management decisions in these areas. Support development of model technical regulations. Provide advice and guidance to provincial authorities in inspection guidelines and national campaigns. Ensure compliance with national legislation of imported and exported food products.
