KARACHI: Managing Director of SGS Pakistan Abdul Razzak Lakhani has stressed that the business and industrial community of Karachi Chamber of Commerce & Industry (KCCI) must work collectively with SGS Pakistan to promote the standardization of products both either being produced and imported in Pakistan or being exported to other countries which would certainly ensure sustainability and growth for the national economy.

Speaking at an awareness session organized at KCCI, MD SGS Pakistan added that the developed world has focused on standardizing products, processes and management system and also ensured regulatory, ethical and social compliances which must also be adopted by Pakistan as well in order to ensure sustainable economic development.

President KCCI Junaid Esmail Makda, Vice President KCCI Asif Sheikh Javaid and KCCI Managing Committee Members along with officials from SGS Pakistan attended the awareness session.

Highlighting the overall activities of SGS Pakistan, Abdul Razzak Lakhani informed that SGS Global Group, which has been in existence since last 150 years, has operations in 140 countries with a total workforce of 97,000 and 2,500 laboratories/ offices, giving SGS Pakistan the access to knowledge which was being mobilized to come up with the solutions that would definitely bring up the economy of Pakistan. “We are operating in Pakistan since 1952 with around 1,000 specialists while comprehensive labs have been established in Karachi and Lahore. We are practically working in every segment of economy including the agriculture, food, minerals, textile, leather, oil & gas, chemicals, equipment, refineries, power plants, fertilizer plants, pipelines and cement plants etc. You name the commodity and you will find us offering services for the same”, he added.

Highlighting SGS Pakistan’s activities in the agriculture sector, he said, “We are practically involved in everything that is going out or coming in the country including rice, wheat, sugar, seeds, pulses or any other thing being traded as we intervene as third party and enjoy the confidence of international players and also the governments because of our excellent services.”

He said that SGS Pakistan holds comprehensive laboratories where visual, chemical, biological, pesticide, halal, GMO and many other testing and quality assessment facilities were being provided for various commodities including beverages, meat, processed foods and frozen foods etc.

He further informed that SGS Pakistan was also providing the Farm Management service to enhance the productivity of farmers by monitoring the soil, seeds, fertilizers and pesticides.

Referring to SGS Pakistan’s activities in the Mineral Sector, he informed that whatever was being explored in Pakistan including zinc ore, copper ore, iron ore, coal or any other mineral, SGS Pakistan was there with complete geochemical laboratories and field services to help the exploration sector.

Earlier, President KCCI Junaid Esmail Makda, in his welcome address, stated that it was the need of the hour to stage today’s awareness session as during the past few months, the business community has been facing a lot of issues and barriers by the Quarantine Department of the Department of Plant Protection (DPP) which continues to create problems for traders who were either exporting or importing goods.

Expressing deep concerns over meager number of workforce at DPP, he said, “As it is a very serious issue so we found it pertinent to seek help from President Dr. Arif Alvi who, during his recent visit to Karachi, assured to get the issue of limited workforce at DPP resolved on priority”, he added.

Sharing the experience of his recent visit to SGS Pakistan, President KCCI stated that all the laboratories at SGS Pakistan were well-equipped and everything was available under one platform and it was really heartening to see that certification for the textile sector, which was the mainstream of Pakistan’s exports, was also being provided by SGS Pakistan through state-of-the-art laboratories and testing facilities as per international standards.

He said that SGS Pakistan has evolved into a dynamic team of specialists in the related disciplines of quality verification, supported by state-of-the-art testing laboratories and advanced technology. “With its head office in Karachi and offices across the country, it offers a broad range of services to all sectors, including agricultural, mineral, environmental, oil, gas & chemical, and industrial, helping to mitigate risks, expedite workflow and assure quality standards”, he added.

Junaid Makda was of the opinion that manufacturing was invariably complex, requires tremendous attention to standards and regulations, needs compliance with quality, health and safety legislation and, often, international regulations. In this regard, SGS has a comprehensive suite of services to help manufacturing processes run smoothly.

Referring to SRO 237, President KCCI pointed out that it was made mandatory that the ingredients and details of the imported food products shall be printed in Urdu and English languages on consumer packaging while the logo of Halal certification body shall also be printed which was widely criticized by KCCI as it was technically impossible to get this new regulation implemented immediately yet the said SRO was enforced overnight, which resulted in blocking all the consignments even those which had already arrived at the ports or were in transit. Realizing the grievances faced by traders and on KCCI’s request, Advisor to PM for Commerce Abdul Razak Dawood extended the implementation for three months which KCCI was warmly welcomed as it provided sufficient time period to foreign manufacturers of food stuffs to comply with recent amendments in the Iadded Policy Order 2016, he added.