Product Compliance in Pakistan

The Pakistan Standards and Quality Control Authority (PSQCA) is the national standards body responsible for the establishment and enforcement of national standards, registration of inspection agencies, and assessment of industrial raw materials and finished products for compliance with international standards. It is governed by the Pakistan Standards and Quality Control Authority Act, 1996.

The mandatory certification mark scheme run by the PSQCA is based on the Pakistan Conformity Assessment Rules of 2011.

The list of products subject to the PSQCA mandatory certification mark scheme consists of over 150 items.  Majority of them are food products, but the certification process affects also several products that fall into other categories.

One can  apply for testing of products according to either procedure:

• Regulatory testing Scheme
• Commercial Testing Scheme

Regulatory testing Scheme:

The items that fall under mandatory list are being tested under regulatory testing scheme.

The following steps are applied:

Collection of two sealed samples by the field officer of Conformity Assessment division, one of which is sent to the laboratory as per Pakistan Conformity Assessment Rules.

Sending  the test results within time period as described by the QCC for farther action to relevant CA office.

Commercial Testing Scheme

In case of products other then mandatory, the following steps under this scheme of testing are applied:

Provision of  sealed sample along with testing fees pay order/DD in sample collection points by the customer.

Segregation of samples  and tagging them accordingly and sent to Director QCC Office.

Sending  the sample to the laboratory for testing against relevant Pakistan /International Standards as required by the client.

Testing the sample within stipulated time period by the relevant laboratory and sending the test report to Director Lab/QCC for review and approval.

Sending the printed report to clients.

Products in scope

Products meeting the Pakistani standards to which Pakistani Standards Mark should be applied (including food products):

• AC Watt hour meters
• Apple Juice
• Balanced Feed Mixture for Live Stock
• Ballast for Tubular Fluorescent Lamp
• Banaspati
• Biscuits (Excluding Wafer Biscuits)
• Butter
• Carbonated Beverages
• Bottled Drinking Water
• Cold Worked Steel Deformed Bars for the Reinforcement of Concrete
• Cooking Oil (Blended)
• Chilly Powder
• Concentrated Fruit Juice
• Condensed Milk
• Curry Powder
• Deformed & Plain Billet Steel Bars
• Discharge Lamps/Compact Flourescent Lamps (H.S.Code 8539,3200,8539,3910 & 8539, 3990) 60968 & 60969
• Food for Infants and Children
• Flavoured Milk
• Fruit Squash
• Gas Appliances-General Requirements
• Gas Applied fired Room Heater-Vented
• Gas Cooking Range
• Gas Cooking Stoves
• Gas Fired Radiant Room Heaters un-vented & semi-vented type
• Gas Water Heaters
• Honey
• Iodized Salt
• Jams ( Fruit preserve ) & Jellies
• Lead Acid Batteries (for Motorcycles)
• Lead Acid Starter Batteries (for motorcar) Part-1, Part-2
• Margarine
• Mayonnaise
• Marmalade
• Milk Powder (whole and Skim)
• Methods for measuring the performance of electric kettles, jugs for house holds and similar purposes
• Methods for measuring the performance of Electric Toasters for house hold and similar purposes
• Mild Steel Bars
• Natural Mineral Water
• Orange Juice
• Palm oil (Edible grade for cooking purposes)
• Pickles
• Polypropylene Woven Sacks for Packing and Transportation of Food items
• Portland Blast Furnace Cement not Exceeding 65% blast furnace slag
• Portland Cement
• Poultry Feeds
• PVC Insulated Cables (Non Armoured) for Electric Power & Lighting
• PVC Pressure Pipes for Cold Potable Water
• Reciprocating Internal Combustion Engine
• Refined Coconut Oil
• Refined Cotton Seed Oil
• Refined Maize Corn Oil
• Refined Mustard Oil
• Refined Soya bean Oil
• Refined Sunflower Oil
• Refine Sugar & White Sugar
• Safety Razor Blades (double edge)
• Single & Twin Blade Plastic bounded Disposable Razors
• Sulphate Resisting Portland Cement
• Synthetic Vinegar
• Tea Black
• Three Wheeler Auto Vehicles
• Tubular Fluorescent Lamp
• Induction Motors
• Two Wheeler Auto Vehicles
• Turmeric(Ground & Powdered)
• Wafers Biscuits
• Tooth Paste
• Toilet Soap
• Shampoo
• Synthetic Detergent Powdre for General Purpose
• Powder Hair Dyes
• Oxidation Hair Dye Liquid
• Structural Steel
• Tin Plate
• Urea (Prilled and Granular)
• Di-Ammonium Phosphate (DAP)
• Single Super Phosphate
• Triple Super Phosphate
• White Portland Cement
• Masonry Cement
• Internal Combustion Engine Lubricating Oil
• Flexible Polyurethane foam for domestic mattresses
• Motorcycle Tyres & rims (Code designated series)
• Enamel paint interior (Finishing Colour)
• Enamel paint exterior (Finishing Colour)
• Paints for vehicles
• Bio Orgno Phosphate (BOP)
• Polypropylene woven sacks for packing (Fertilizers)
• Stainless Steel for general purpose
• Bullets for the production of bars (plain & deformed for concret reinforcement
• Steel wire rod
• Truck and Bus Tyres and Rims (Metric Series)
• Ready Mixed Paint brushing, finishing, semi gloss for general purpose
• Household refrigerating appliances
• Polypropylene Woven Laminated hermetically sealed block bottom valve sacks for packing cement
• Packaged Liquid Milk
• Skin Cream
• Liquid Tea/Coffee Whitener
• Powder Tea/Coffee Whitener
• Refined Palm Olein
• Self-Ballasted LED Lamps for General Lighting services
• LED Modules for General Lighting
• Electronics Ballast for Florescent Lamps
• Shaving Cream
• Skin Powder
• Hair Cream
• Multi Nutrient Fertilizer
• Bio Fertilizer
• Ammonium Sulphate (Fertilizer)
• Potassium Sulphate  (Fertilizer grade)
• Passenger car tyres  and Rims Part I (Tyres)
• Rubber Tyre for Bicycles
• Single Use Sterile Surgical Glove
• Chemical Admixture for Concrete
• Sanitary Taps
• Buried Polyethylene (PE) Pipes for the supply of Gaseous fuels metric series-specification
• Polyethylene (PE) pipes for Water supply-specification. (1st Revision)
• Polypropylene Pipes
• Medical diagnostic X-ray equipment
• Uninterruptible power systems (UPS)
• Coaxial communication cables
• Minimum Energy Performance Standard (MEPS) and Energy Star Rating for Television Receivers.
• Sound system equipment
• Medical electrical equipment – Dosimeters with ionization chambers as used in radiotherapy
• Coffee and its Preparation
• Fruit Juices & Nectars
• Fortified wheat flour
• Olive / Virgin and Refined and for Refined Olive Pomace Oil
• Hot-Rolled Carbon Steel Sheet of Commercial and Drawing Qualities
• Cold Reduced Carbon Steel Sheet of Commercial and Drawing Qualities
• Heat-treatable steels, alloy steels and free-cutting steels — Part 4: Free-cutting steels.
• Safety of amusement rides and amusement devices-Part-1: Design and manufacture.
• Lighters—safety specification
• Aluminum and aluminum alloys – castings – chemical composition and mechanical properties
• Spectacle frames – Requirements and test methods
• Standard Practice for Preparation of Paint Brushes for Evaluation
• Switches for household and similar fixed electrical installations Part-1 General Requirements.
• Switches for household and similar fixed electrical installations Part-2:1 Particular Requirements – Electronics Switches
• Secondary cells and Batteries containing Alkaline or other  Non-Acid electrolytes secondary Lithium cells and Batteries for portable Application.
• Clothes washing machine for household use.
• Multiple split- system Air-conditioners and Air to Air heat pumps.
• Non-Ducked Air Conditioners and Heat pump.
• Electric irons for household or similar use.
• Plug & Socket outlets household and similar purposes
• Household micro wave ovens.
• Plugs and socked outlets

Telecommunications terminal equipment connected in any way to the PSTN and radio equipment are subject to approval by the Pakistan Telecommunications Authority. The approval can be conducted on the basis of foreign standards. For the approval process a sample of product tested is required. Also foreign producers are eligible for applying for that approval.

The basis of the radio type approval in Pakistan are the “Type Approval Technical Standards Regulations, 2021”.

• Application form along with undertaking and checklist for Type Approval of Terminal Devices is available on PTA website. The application along with supporting documents in CD/DVD/USB may be submitted to PTA Headquarters F-5/1, Islamabad, Pakistan.
• Separate application is required for each terminal device model. If model of the equipment changes, the applicant will need to get fresh type approval of that equipment from PTA.
• The type approval applicant may appoint a local 3rd party/representative/consultant etc. for submission of the type approval and certificate of compliance to technical standards (CoC) application and to represent them at PTA.
• Applicant is required to submit a sample quantity (1) along with the application for type approval to be used for testing and evaluation by the PTA.
• The applicant shall provide the required documentation as part of Type Approval
• In order to verify that the terminal equipment being sold commercially is a type approved model, the type approval holder will place a verifiable sign (Paper or Electronic embedded within the software) with following details at a minimum on each type approved terminal equipment as follows: Unique Type Approval number issued by PTA and verifiable sign reflecting Approved by PTA
• Manufacturer(s)/ authorized distributor(s)/ importer(s)/dealer(s) shall, specify through a verifiable sign (Paper or Electronic embedded within the software) that the terminal equipment offered by them is “Approved by PTA”.

Required documentation:

• Declaration of Conformity (DoC) by the manufacturer reflecting the applied device standards e.g. RF, Safety, SAR, EMC/EMI etc.
• Provision of Type Allocation Code (TAC) details (e.g. GSMA TAC Certificate or GSMA TAC Code programmed on applied model devices etc.) from GSMA Association in case of device offering IMEI/SIM base functionality.
• Undertaking from manufacturer that device being type approved is for mass produce consumer purpose only and all native applications installed do not support any customized in-built encryption as part of its primary device functions.
• Undertaking from manufacturer that sanctity/privacy of the user data shall be ensured
• Technical Data Sheet, reflecting Specifications for the device e.g. output power, operating frequency, range etc.
• System based testing/checking e.g. Operating system, firmware, Internal hardware installed such as PCBA board etc.
• Test Reports for standards reflected within DoC