Ahsan Siddiqui
The Pakistan Standards and Quality Control Authority (PSQCA), responsible for regulating the quality of products in the country, has been exposed as a toothless institution, marred by corruption, inefficiency, and an alarming lack of leadership.
For over three years, this critical agency has been functioning without a permanent Director General, allowing substandard and harmful products to freely penetrate the market under the fake PSQCA logo, wreaking havoc on public health and the national economy.
As PSQCA falters, the public is left to face a market flooded with unsafe, low-quality goods that carry counterfeit PSQCA certifications. Sources reveal that the authority has lost its grip due to rampant corruption, with its officials issuing certifications from the comfort of their desks rather than conducting field inspections. The situation is so dire that PSQCA, once a beacon of consumer protection, has become an enabler of market deception, costing the government millions in lost revenues from marking and license fees.
The rot runs deep: field operations and inspections, meant to ensure quality control and collect marking fees from factories, have ground to a halt due to alleged staffing shortages. Yet, insiders claim the real issue is an entrenched culture of bribery and inefficiency. Instead of cracking down on violators, PSQCA officials issue clean bills of health to products without ever stepping foot in the field.
What’s worse, brands whose trademarks were seized by the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) for large-scale tax evasion, and whose PSQCA licenses were revoked, continue to churn out fake products through third parties. Despite their illegal status, these brands remain on store shelves, a testament to PSQCA’s negligence.
A brief attempt to restore order was made when PSQCA initiated action against violators some time ago, but sources suggest political interference and internal corruption quickly derailed the effort. Without a permanent Director General for over three years, the organization lacks the decisive leadership needed to clean house and restore its integrity. PSQCA’s absence in the field has been so blatant that some factories continue to use revoked licenses to operate openly, contributing to national revenue losses in the billions.
The lack of leadership has created a fertile environment for corruption to flourish. Many insiders attribute this to political interference, which has turned the appointment of a new Director General into a prolonged bureaucratic tug-of-war. Without a strong, independent leader to steer the ship, PSQCA’s once reliable teams are now shadows of their former selves, allowing non-standard products to flood markets unchecked.
This failure has not only eroded consumer trust but also severely damaged Pakistan’s international reputation. Without an active, functioning PSQCA, local and foreign buyers are left questioning the quality of Pakistani goods. Worse still, this lapse in oversight poses severe health and safety risks to the general public, who remain vulnerable to substandard, potentially dangerous products.
In the absence of decisive leadership, the very foundations of PSQCA have crumbled, and its capacity to enforce quality standards has been critically undermined. Pakistan’s public deserves better than an agency bogged down by corruption and bureaucratic lethargy while rogue factories continue to endanger lives and drain the economy.
Will anyone step up to fill the void, or will PSQCA remain a silent spectator as substandard products reign supreme?
