LAHORE, June 27: The Pakistan Tanners Association (Northern Zone) Environment Society has established a laboratory in collaboration with the Royal Netherlands Embassy to provide accurate testing services and help tanneries design more effective treatment plants, do research and educate tanners on environmental issues.

The laboratory was inaugurated by Environment Minister Makhdoom Ishfaq Ahmed at the PTA office on Ferozpur Road on Friday.

PTA(NZ) president Agha Saiddain said that the laboratory was equipped with facilities to do research through pilots plants for development of cleaner technologies in the leather industry.

He said that the laboratory would also help reduce the pollution load from tanneries in downstream communities.

He said that the Royal Netherlands Embassy had provided the society with technical assistance and technology in this regard.

He said that compliance with the national and international legislation on environment would cost a tannery something between Rs15 to 20 million. The leather industry, which is already facing tough competition in the international market, would find it difficult to make such a huge investment.

Under the international law, he said that factories would have to control and treat emissions. Under the World Trade Organization, no industry could export its products without being certified under ISO-14000. The factories lacking treatment plants would not be certified.

He said the existing laboratories were not precise enough to provide testing services for the designing of optimal treatment technologies.

Mr Agha said that in Pakistan there was only one internationally acceptable laboratory, which was located in Karachi. In these circumstances, he said that the export of leather from Punjab was under serious threat in the years to come. If environmental infrastructure were not established in the near future then the chances of survival in the international market would be bleak.

He said the federal government had also supported two projects in the leather sector through the Export Development Fund. The industry was told that surcharge would only be used for the development of export sector of Pakistan.