ISLAMABAD, June 18: The Pakistan National Accreditation Council (PNAC) is yet to get registered with the International Accreditation Forum (IAF) and the International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation (ILAC) to make it a globally-recognized body , the National Assembly was told on Friday.
The minister in charge for science and technology, Dr Attaur Rehman, in written reply to a question asked by Shahzadi Umerzadi Tiwana, said pre-requisites were being fulfilled to get the PNAC registered with the IAF, however it might take some time.
He said recognizing the importance of accreditation in the new world trade order, the government had set up PNAC. Its basic function is to accredit the Conformity Assessment Bodies (CABs), including testing and calibration laboratories, certification and inspection bodies, registration of personnel and training courses providers in the relevant quality disciplines.
The organization started functioning after the appointment of its first director-general in 2001. Since, accreditation is a new field in the country, foreign and local consultants were hired under Asian Development Bank assistance programme to prepare document and conduct training of staff according to international standards.
The programme received further support from Norwegian Accreditation (NA) and Chinese National Accreditation Agency (CNAA) after September 11, 2001 when foreign consultants refused to come to Pakistan.
Since, the NA and the CNAA are well-recognized internationally and are also members of the IAF and ILAC, their support helped the PNAC get an introduction in the international community as a national accreditation body of Pakistan, which enhanced its credibility, the minister stated.
In the past, the PNAC has been facing difficulty in finding qualified staff, and despite repeated advertisements, the turnout of applicants had been low. Moreover, those offered appointments did not join or resigned due to low salary package.
This major hurdle was resolved and the Central Development Working Party, in its meeting held in November 2003, approved new salary structure for PNAC staff, the minister told the NA.
Likewise, the staff is being provided training in accordance with international requirements. The PNAC has already accredited four labs, and assessment of nearly two dozen labs is under process.
To secure membership of international bodies, the necessary requirements of documents, trained staff and minimum number of CABs have been fulfilled. On these grounds, the PNAC has already applied for the membership of IAF/ILAC and Asia Pacific Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation. The PNAC's applications are under process in these organizations.