The Pakistan Standards & Quality Control Authority (PSQCA; ) is an autonomous body subordinate to the ministry of science and technology of the

Government of Pakistan The Government of Pakistan () (abbreviated as GoP), constitutionally known as the Federal Government, commonly known as the Centre, is the national authority of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, a federal republic located in South Asia, con ...

. Its main objective is to regulate and enforce quality standards in

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

. Anything that is certified by the PSQCA is issued the Pakistan Standards (PS) label.

History

The PSQCA was formed through the passage of the Pakistan Standards and Quality Control Authority Act, 1996 by the

Parliament of Pakistan The Parliament of Pakistan is the supreme Legislature, legislative body of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. It is a bicameralism, bicameral federation, federal legislature, composed of the President of Pakistan and two houses: the Senate of ...

.Pakistan Standards And Quality Control Authority: The Sole National Standards Body of Pakistan
Business Recorder (newspaper), Published 15 October 2016, Retrieved 3 September 2020 On Feb 16, 2022, the Senate Standing Committee on Science and Technology approved transfer of head office of Pakistan Standards and Quality Control Authority (PSQCA) to Islamabad from Karachi.

Organization

The Authority is composed of the following four departments:

Standards Development Center

The Directorate of Standards, also known as Standards Development Centre, SDC is responsible for the development of Pakistan Standards, adoption of International Standards by consensus involving Stakeholders (manufacturers, government and regulatory bodies, consumers, scientists and technologists, academia and testing laboratories) through its technical divisions.

Organization

SDC has 177 Technical Committees along with 12 technical divisions. Technical divisions are: * Agriculture and Food Division * Automobile Division (formed; 2014) * Chemical Division * Civil Division * Electrical Division * Electronics Division * Halaal Division * Information Technology (IT) and Information Communication Technology (ICT), Division * Management Standards System (MSS) * Mechanical Division * Textile Division * Weights & Measure Division

Achievements

SDC has established 6094 Pakistan Standards, and adopted 9185 ISO, 6202 IEC, 2 OIML, 634 ASTM, 21 Codex Alimentarius (CAC) and 15 Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Standards.

Quality Control Center

The Quality Control Centre (QCC) is a multifunctional testing laboratory which test quality of food, building materials (cement), papers & textiles, sugar, Microbiology, beverages and Water. QCC is organized in six sections. It can test 107 different items, including 38 food, 28 electrical, 02 auto vehicles, 03 animal feed, 3 textile, 14 civil/building materials, 6 washing/cosmetics, 2 steel, 9 chemical division and 4 fertilizer items.

History

The formal Central Testing Laboratory merged into Pakistan Standards Quality Control Authority under Act VI of 1996, after the Promulgation of the Pakistan Standards Quality Control Authority and was renamed as Quality Control Centre. In 2014, all labs of Quality Control Centre(QCC Karachi) i.e. Microbiology, Water & beverages lab, Sugar Lab, Oil & Fats and Building Material (Cement) Lab were accredited.

Organization

Quality control centers are located at Karachi (with chemical, microbiology and physical sections), Lahore (chemical, microbiology and physical sections), Peshawar (chemical, microbiology and physical sections) and Quetta (chemical section).

Technical Services Center

System Certifications Center

International activities

Affiliations

PSQCA is a member of the following international organizations: *

International Organization for Standardization The International Organization for Standardization (ISO ; ; ) is an independent, non-governmental, international standard development organization composed of representatives from the national standards organizations of member countries. M ...

International Electrotechnical Commission The International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC; ) is an international standards organization that prepares and publishes international standards for all electrical, electronics, electronic and related technologies. IEC standards cover a va ...

International Organization of Legal Metrology The International Organization of Legal Metrology ( - OIML), is an intergovernmental organisation that was created in 1955 to promote the global harmonisation of the legal metrology procedures that underpin and facilitate international trade. Such ...

World Trade Organization The World Trade Organization (WTO) is an intergovernmental organization headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland that regulates and facilitates international trade. Governments use the organization to establish, revise, and enforce the rules that g ...

* IECEE/CEE

Relations with foreign nations and organisation

PSQCA has memorandum of understandings (MoUs) with following countries: * * * * PSQCA has established relations with following organizations: *

American National Standards Institute The American National Standards Institute (ANSI ) is a private nonprofit organization that oversees the development of voluntary consensus standards for products, services, processes, systems, and personnel in the United States. The organiz ...

ASTM International ASTM International, formerly known as American Society for Testing and Materials, is a standards organization that develops and publishes voluntary consensus technical international standards for a wide range of materials, products, systems and s ...

Deutsches Institut für Normung ' (DIN; in English language, English, the German Institute for Standardisation) is a Germany, German non-profit organization and acting as national organization for standardization. DIN is the German International Organization for Standardizat ...

References

External links

PSQCA official website

Ministry of Science and Technology
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pakistan Standards and Quality Control Authority Regulatory authorities of Pakistan Quality control Government agencies established in 1996 1996 establishments in Pakistan Standards organisations in Pakistan