October 15, 2005	Saturday	Ramzan 10, 1426

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ISLAMABAD, Oct 14: The Consumer Rights Commission of Pakistan (CRCP) has called for observing standards for ensuring health and environment safety. There is a need for comprehensive strategy to tackle the issue of substandard products, said CRCP Secretary-General Mian Abrar Hafeez on World Standards Day.

“Lack of awareness about the importance of standards is causing a huge loss to our economy and our markets are flooded with substandard, counterfeit and adulterated products,” he said.

World Standards Day is observed on October 14 every year, and this year the theme of the day is “Standards for Safer World”, which aims at promoting awareness about the importance of standards for human safety and protection against substandard, counterfeit and adulterated products, and safety against disasters and catastrophes.

Mentioning the recent earthquake in Pakistan, Mr Hafeez said though natural calamities could never be circumvented, their disastrous impacts, both human and financial, could be alleviated if standards were fully observed. Many buildings, including Margalla Towers in Islamabad, were damaged or reduced to rubble in the recent earthquake due to use of substandard materials.

Mr Hafeez said most of the products and goods available in markets were substandard, which posed health risks to consumers. In this regard, the role of Pakistan Standards and Quality Control Authority (PSQCA) is of pivotal nature.

Though PSQCA has been very active in certification of products, lack of effective market regulatory mechanism, allows adulterators and providers of counterfeit products and services to work freely.

“Our market is flooded with different consumable products with artificial dyes and other substandard ingredients, specially in food items, medicines, and other products of daily use.”

Availability of these products is rampant in markets, which, at times, resulted in serious health consequences.

Poor implementation of national environment quality standards causes degradation of environment and water contamination which often results in outbreak of water-borne diseases.

Mr Hafeez asked government, civil society and citizens to come forward to create awareness about the importance of standards and ensure their implementation.

He also urged the PSQCA, Pakistan Council of Research on Water Resources and Pakistan Environment Protection Agency to fully enforce their relevant standards so that citizens could have better health and safety at all levels.

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