Import regime

THIS is apropos Qamar Iqbal’s letter (April 20).

There is a dire need for revisiting our entire import regime. All those articles which are imported, specially for edible usage, need to be reassessed if they are safe, halal and, above all, if we really need those to import.

If the need is there, we should ensure that the exporting company should give a certificate from a competent authority of the exporting country that the cargo is safe, halal and, above all, fit for the purpose for which it has to be imported.

Secondly, importers must ensure that consignments are sold to only bona fide consumers.

Also, an authority similar to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) should be established in Pakistan. This body should monitor the quality of all edibles, like the Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan.

This includes minute details like monitoring of cleanliness of pharmacies, temperature maintenance there and proper record keeping of those drugs as well which are to be sold on prescriptions alone.

This has been made possible with the joint efforts of the trade and the government and is very much evident now, specially in big cities like Lahore, Rawalpindi and Islamabad, where there has been a mushroom growth of chain pharmacies.

I believe it could be replicated in the case of the food sector in the shape of chain stores, selling all sorts of edibles and grocery items, in standard packing and some chain sort of restaurants where consumers are satisfied with the quality of stuff they buy because of the goodwill of the seller.

For this, provincial and other regional bodies should work on the guidelines issued by the federal government.

Mumtaz Ahmed

Lahore