Islamabad, Sep 23 - Non-compliance with World Trade Organisation (WTO) regulations on quality control have severely affected Pakistan's exports, prompting the government to grant an initial Rs.437.44 million for creating a certifying laboratory at Karachi.A national quality policy plan envisages the establishment of 100 laboratories in the country at a cost of Rs.5 billion.Pakistani exports required an ISO-17025 certificate from an Accrediting Testing Laboratory and the WTO had urged the country 'to ensure its quality control, otherwise its exports would continue to decline', Dawn reported Sunday.The government's policy of enhancing the industrial sector's activity and diversifying of exportable and importable products have placed an onerous responsibility on the quality control centre of the Karachi-based Pakistan Standard and Quality Control Authority (PSQCA) and pointed to the need for upgrading its facilities, it added.'The upgrade will ease sanctions imposed by western countries on Pakistan under the WTO requirements,' it said.Once the centre is upgraded, all major purchasing organisations and big industries of the country will be utilising the improved facilities and, 'because of this, a significant improvement is expected in timely reporting of exportable/importable items at the time of ascertaining their conformity to standard specifications', the newspaper noted.This will also minimise delays caused by the absence of quality control certificates, besides eliminating substandard goods to a large extent.The need for improving quality control methods 'had become a key national and international business strategy to succeed in the international market', the newspaper contended.According to US State Department figures, Pakistan's exports, which grew by 14.4 percent in 2005-06 at $14.85 billion, are dominated by cotton textiles and apparels, despite the government's diversification efforts.Major imports include petroleum and petroleum products, edible oil, wheat, chemicals, fertilizer, capital goods, industrial raw materials, and consumer products, rising to 38.8 percent to $25.6 billion.
(c) Indo-Asian News Service
