In the last issue, we introduced the food safety supervision in Pakistan. In this issue, Foodmate will share with you the main food safety laws and regulations in Pakistan. Pakistan does not have a comprehensive regulatory framework, but a combination of federal and provincial laws and regulations. These laws and regulations empower multiple federal ministries and provincial regulatory agencies to regulate food production, distribution and consumption.



1. Pakistan Pure Food Act 1963

The Pakistan Pure Food Act 1963 is the basis of Pakistan's existing trade-related food quality and safety legislative framework. It covers 104 kinds of food and is divided into nine categories: milk and dairy products, edible oil and fat products, beverages, grains and cereals, starch foods, spices and condiments, sweeteners, fruits and vegetables, and other foods. Working to prevent meal adulteration and assuring an adequate purity, the law sets the policies addressing using preservatives, antioxidants, colorants, flavorants, and different food components and forbids the manufacturing, sales, and trade of all such unsafe food which violate the prescribed rules and are probable to show dangerous for the health.

2. The West Pakistan Pure Food Order 1960

The West Pakistan Pure Food Order 1960 prohibits false food quality assurance and unauthorized mixing of some ingredients and chemicals in food. The order prohibits the sale, preparation, manufacture, import or export of unhealthy, unhygienic or harmful to health and counterfeit food for human consumption. The order stipulates the conditions for obtaining production, storage and sales licenses, and carries out registration management for production and wholesale business.


3. The Agricultural Produce (Grading and Marketing) Act 1937

The Agricultural Produce (Grading and Marketing) Act 1937 stipulates that the grading and marketing of agricultural products consumed in the province shall be supervised by the provincial government; the federal government shall be responsible for the grading and marketing of agricultural products traded between provinces or used for export. based on such supervision methods, relevant rules are formulated for the grading and marking of agricultural products within their respective supervision responsibilities, and the grade name of products and corresponding quality requirements are determined; specify a specific grade of marking; inspection of relevant product grades and requirements for confiscation and disposal of illegal products.

4. The imports and Exports (Control) Act 1950

The imports and Exports (Control) Act 1950 is the basic legal basis for the administration of imported goods in Pakistan, and aims to prohibit, restrict or otherwise control the import and export of goods in Pakistan. The Act provides that the federal government may prohibit or otherwise control the import and export of any particular kind of goods by an order published in the official gazette or the conditions and exceptions established pursuant to the order, or make general provisions on all practices (including trade practices) and procedures related to the import and export of such goods.


5. Pakistan Plant Quarantine Act 1976

"Plant" in Pakistan Plant Quarantine Act 1976 refers to all kinds of plants or their components (including living bodies), including stems, branches, tubers, corms, rootstocks, buds, cuttings, layers, sliding strips, suckers, roots, green scum on stagnant water, leaves, flowers, fruits and seeds. According to the law, the federal government is responsible for the interprovincial trade and import trade of plants, but the power can be delegated to the provincial government to supervise the quarantine of related plant products according to the actual situation.

6. Pakistan Animal Quarantine (import and export of animals and animal products) Order 1979

The Pakistan Animal Quarantine (import and export of animals and animal products) Order 1979 stipulates that the federal government may, by notice in the official gazette, prohibit, restrict or otherwise manage the import and export of any class of animals or animal products (which may cause disease to any other animals, animal products or people) under such conditions as it deems appropriate, The specific quarantine management shall be managed by the inspector in the prescribed manner.



The federal government of Pakistan has not formulated laws and regulations on food quality, safety and labeling. Generally, provincial / local governments formulate and implement supervision in accordance with the requirements of the basic food safety law at the international level. The following mainly lists and introduces the laws and regulations issued by Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces.

1. Regulations issued by Punjab Food Authority

The Punjab Food Authority supervises and implements the following four regulations.

(1) The Punjab Pure Food Rules 2011 are comprehensive regulations, which cover the requirements for the use of various food additives (including the description of the implementation of unspecified items), identification requirements, quality and safety standards for 10 categories of food, as well as the requirements for the conditions of relevant enterprise operation licenses and products with special production requirements.

(2) The main content of the Punjab Pure Food Regulations 2018 are consistent with the core content of the Punjab Pure Food Rules 2011. However, many contents have been refined based on the 2011 Rules, and the basic classification, product definition and corresponding product standard requirements of 16 categories of food have been given, which are more systematic than the 2011 Rules, and the health management of relevant personnel, mandatory classification training management and other contents have been added.

(3) The Regulations of Punjab Food Authority are not a single regulatory document, but a summary of the main regulatory documents by Punjab Food Authority.

(4) The Punjab Food Authority (Food Packaging / Contact Materials) Regulation 2018 specifies the general guidance requirements for food contact materials (FCM). The requirements for ingredients of food packaging / contact materials, risk assessment, substances authorized for the manufacture of food packaging / contact materials, general restrictions on food packaging / contact materials, specific migration limit (SML), overall migration limit (OML), declaration of conformity and other contents are specified in detail.



2. Regulations Issued by Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Food Safety & Halal Food Authority

The KP Food Safety and Halal Food Regulations, 2018 are not independent regulatory documents, but a summary document of the main regulations supervised and implemented by the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Food Safety & Halal Food Authority, including: the Appointment and Conditions of Service Regulations 2017, the Appointment Regulations of the Expert Committee 2017, the Sealing up and Unsealing Regulations of Food Enterprises 2017, the Financial and Audit Regulations 2017, the Appeal Regulations 2017 and the Licensing and Registration Regulations 2017.

Among them, the Licensing and Registration Regulations 2017 stipulates that the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Food Safety & Halal Food Authority implements licensing management for food production and operation enterprises within its jurisdiction, and each food operator shall hold a valid license related to its food business issued by the authority. At the same time, the registration management shall be implemented for the products produced and operated.

Generally speaking, there is no comprehensive legal framework in Pakistan. Although there is a system of laws and regulations covering all aspects of food safety, it is obvious that the laws and regulations at the federal level were promulgated earlier, and whether they can adapt to the current situation of food safety management needs further research. The construction of food safety laws and regulations by provincial governments is also inconsistent, and Punjab province is relatively the most complete.