Accredition can improve quality of products, says S & T minister

Islamabad, June 09, 2011 (PPI): Federal Minister for Science and Technology, Mir Changez Khan Jamali Thursday said, "Accreditation can improve quality of products and services as per national and international laws".

He said this while marking the World Accreditation Day here at Islamabad Club. The minister said that most of the developed countries have made accreditation a key element of their policy making strategy and therefore it was imperative for regulatory bodies to make most of the services of internationally recognized accreditation services of Pakistan National Accreditation Council (PNAC) which is MRA (Mutual Recognition Arrangements) signatory with ILAC (International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation) for overseeing compliance with the standards and technical regulations so to fulfil the international requirements. Stressing the importance of accreditation.

Mr. Jamali stated that it provides assurance and confidence that traded products and services not only conform to specifications but also meet legal and regulatory requirements. He further said that regulators and exporters need to find ways to use MRA status of PNAC to avoid unnecessary multiple certification/assessments as the international credibility of PNAC will not only enable the country to save foreign exchange incurred on account of accreditation from foreign accreditation bodies but will also facilitate increase in exports by meeting the deadlines.

Importance of Lab Accreditation and Medical Lab Accreditation were also highlighted by Director BV Consumer Product Services Pvt Ltd, Ms. Shaista Rashid and Commandant AFIP General Farooq Ahmed Khan respectively on the occasion.

In the end, Federal Minister stated that PNAC should make its utmost efforts to provide accreditation in all the required sectors and Ministry of Science & Technology will play its part by providing the needed resources.

"I urge all the stakeholders to collaborate with PNAC in order to make Pakistan reliable and competitive in the international market", added the minister.

Secretary MOST, Irfan Nadeem, Acting Director General PNAC, GP Capt È Engr Najmuddin, and other high officials also accompanied the Federal Minister.