ISLAMABAD, April 15: Pakistani products cannot be sold in the international market unless their quality is enhanced to the world standard.

This was stated by Shahzad Hassan Parvaiz, Secretary of the Ministry of Science and Technology, at the inaugural session of a five-day training course on international standards ISO-17025 (laboratory quality management system) at the Institute of Cost and Management Accountants of Pakistan (ICMAP) on Tuesday.

The programme has been organized by the Pakistan National Accreditation Council (PNAC) in collaboration with the Pakistan Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (PCSIR).

Regretting over the poor quality of goods, he said, “we remain isolated in every field because we lack the right work ethos, the right systems and intentions and the country has even failed to come close to the international level as far as quality of products is concerned”.

He praised the PNAC for arranging accreditation programmes for laboratories with the assistance of British, UNIDO and Chinese experts, under which a number of laboratories have already been assessed.

He said the World Trade Organisation (WTO) required the marketing of quality goods in the global market. The products’ quality would be the only criterion which the buyer would consider against the prices.

In order to conform to the specification of exportable products, a test report from an ISO 17025-accredited laboratory would be an essential requirement in the new WTO regime, he added. Abdul Rashid, DG PNAC, said, “unfortunately not a single laboratory in Pakistan has been accredited with ISO-17025 by any reputable accreditation body of the world. It is, therefore, imperative for our labs to seek accreditation with the ISO-17025 standard”.

Mr Rashid said the PNAC had launched accreditation services for testing and calibration of laboratories. Since the field of accreditation and establishment of laboratory management system in accordance with the ISO-17025 were new and no expertise was available in the country, the PNAC launched specialized training courses in various cities, he added. “The course is aimed at developing local capacity and capability of standard so that our labs are accredited to this standard and their results are acceptable to customers worldwide,” he added.—Jamal Shahid