In dealing with the compliance consulting services related to import and export food, Foomate is often consulted by customers about the food safety supervision situation in Pakistan. Therefore, Foodmate will make brief introduction for you in three phases, hoping to provide useful reference for friends who have export business to Pakistan.

So far, food safety supervision in Pakistan has been a joint effort between federal and provincial authorities. At the federal level, the agencies involved in food safety regulation involve the food, scientific, health and commercial sectors. At the provincial level, agriculture, animal husbandry, processed food and industry departments will also formulate some independent laws and regulations for food safety supervision. According to the functional division between the federal government and provincial governments in the Constitution of Pakistan, the import and export of food, international coordination and other related foreign businesses are supervised by the federal government. Provincial government departments are mainly responsible for supervision of food production and distribution within their jurisdiction.



1. The Ministry of National Food Security & Research

The Ministry of National Food Security & Research is mainly responsible for policy development, economic coordination and planning in Food and agriculture and is the main regulator of domestic and imported food in Pakistan. Although the provinces play a leading role in agricultural affairs, the department plays a coordinating and supporting role in many aspects of agriculture and food security. Several agencies under the Department are involved in agri-food safety and research, including: Animal Quarantine Department, Department of Plant Protection, Fisheries Development Board, etc.

(1) Animal Quarantine Department: mainly involved in the inspection and quarantine of imported and exported animals and animal products, the issuance of hygiene or health certificates, the registration of export enterprises and other management.

(2) Department of Plant Protection: implement relevant laws and regulations on plant quarantine and pesticide use; advise the Government of Pakistan on all aspects of plant protection, including international trade.

(3) Fisheries Development Board: mainly responsible for coordinating national and provincial activities related to aquaculture and prawn culture; promote joint venture development of foreign and local investors in this field, etc.


2. The Ministry of Science and Technology

The Ministry of science and technology is the national coordination center and authorized institution of the government of Pakistan, responsible for planning, coordinating and guiding all work. Its Ministry of technology is entrusted with initiating and monitoring various technological development and industrialization programs in Pakistan, and also acts as a liaison between ministries and national and international scientific and technological development institutions, this includes dealing with technical matters related to the Pakistan Bureau of standards and quality control (the development of national standards and the adoption of different ISO and IEC standards as Pakistani standards; the implementation of the national standard marking scheme under the compulsory / voluntary certification marking scheme) and the Pakistan halal Bureau (promoting the trade and commercialization of Pakistani Halal Products and processes).

3. Other federal regulators

The relevant subsidiary of Ministry of National Health Service Regulations and Coordination will work on applied nutrition research, such as clinical nutrition and food analysis, to advise the federal government on the development of food standards/pure food laws; Pakistan's Ministry of Commerce sets import and export policies for agricultural products and food.



The provincial government is mainly responsible for supervising the production and sales of food in Pakistan. In case of safety problems of imported food or agricultural products, the provinces are responsible for contacting federal officials. Although provinces generally adopt federal regulations and requirements, some provinces have separate provincial regulatory requirements. For example, the Punjab government has established the Punjab Food Authority to improve the implementation of food laws and provide relevant food safety standards. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provincial government and Sindh provincial government have respectively passed the food safety law, laying the legal and regulatory foundation for the establishment of provincial food safety authorities.

1. Punjab Food Authority

Punjab Food Authority is a provincial food safety regulatory body established according to law, aiming to cooperate with manufacturers, food operators, consumers, government departments, autonomous groups and other stakeholders to ensure food safety and quality in the whole food chain.

The functions assigned to the Punjab Food Authority by the Punjab Food Authority Act 2011 include: formulating standards, procedures, processes and guidelines related to any aspect of food, including food business, food labeling, food additives, and specifying appropriate implementation systems; specify procedures and guidelines for establishing and upgrading food laboratories; provide scientific advice and technical support to the government in food safety; certification of exported food / products; Food forward and backward traceability management, etc.

2. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Food Safty & Halal Food Authority

The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Food Safety & Halal Food Authority was established under the Khyber-Pushtun Food Safety and Halal Food Authority Act 2014. The main functions of the Authority include: formulating or adopting standards, procedures, procedures and guidelines relating to any aspect of the food business, food labelling, food additives, etc., and prescribing appropriate enforcement systems (including halal food-related policies and certification management, etc.); provide scientific advice and technical support to the government on food related matters; collect and analyze scientific and technical data related to food; Food import and export certification; establish safety limits for food processing residues (MRL); implement rules and regulations related to GM food, irradiated foods, fortified foods, organic foods, foods for special dietary needs, functional foods; nutraceuticals, health supplements, proprietary and noval foods, beverages, ordinary foods, etc.


3. Sindh Food Authority

Sindh Food Authority was established under the Sindh Food Authority Act 2016. Its main functions include: establishing standards, procedures, procedures and guidelines for any aspect of food, including food business, food labelling, food additives, and designating appropriate enforcement regulatory systems; establish procedures and guidelines for the establishment and accreditation of food laboratories; develop sampling, sample analysis and results reporting methods; providing scientific advice and technical support to the government on food; export food certification; and any other things incidental or necessary to the performance of its functions under the Sindh Food Authority Act 2016.
To sum up, Pakistan's food safety regulatory system is composed of federal level and provincial level, which play a complementary role to some extent. However, there are still great differences between the development level of each province and the actual regulatory system construction, which will be specified by Foodmate in the next introduction.