Islamabad : The. Pakistan Polypropylene Woven Sack Manufacturers Association (PPWSMA) has made another desperate attempt to get implemented Pakistan Standard and Quality Control Authority (PSQCA) mandatory notification SRO No 46/(KE) / 2017 [PS: 3128] dated 19-5-2017 for the use of food grade packing to stop wastage of wheat flour in the country.
PPWSMA chairman, Sikander M. Khan , has demanded of the National Food Security and Research ministry of the federal government to implement PSQCA mandatory notification of 2017 to stop wastage of wheat flour of worth billions of rupee every year. Mr Sikander M. Khan in his letter addressed to Rana Tanveer Hussain , the federal minister of National Food Security and Research , noted that PSQCA in response to a petition filed by PPWSMA issued a mandatory notification in 2017 , directing the federation and all it units to implement its directive to ensure the use of food grade woven sacks for packing of wheat flour as the use of non- food grade sacks for packing of wheat flour was not only causing loss of billions to the poor nation, but also a major cause of deadly diseases like cancer among the people of Pakistan.
PPWSMA boss , Mr Sikander M. Khan is fighting for a major cause of ensuring implementation of PSQCA mandatory notification issued back in 2017 to stop the use of non- food grade for edibles, particularly, for wheat flour as its wastage due to its packing , handling and supply from the Mills to end users was costing in billions of rupee every year.
PPWSMA’s series of letters addressed to the concerned authorities and latest one to Rana Tanveer Hussain, the federal minister for National Food Security and Research suggested that since 2017 as a result of non- implementation of PSQCA mandatory notification caused waste of wheat flour of worth Rs 594 billion. It also suggested that in just financial year 2025-26 non-implementation of PSQCA mandatory notification will result in wastage of wheat flour of worth over Rs 67 billion .
The chronology of events in the case of wastage of wheat flour indicates that PSQCA did issued a mandatory notification in 2017 for stopping of use of non- food grade packing for wheat flour, but in the last long period of eight years it never made any serious attempt for implementation of its mandatory SRO to ensure conservation of wheat flour which is more than a necessity in the case of Pakistan where millions are struggling to get one time meal a day.
The World Bank reports are warning that Pakistan is seriously risking food insecurity and it needs urgent measures to cope up with alarming situation to avert looming food crisis. One wonders what is making the authorities in Pakistan to let the mandatory SRO of PSQCA go non -implemented and continue to waste wheat flour of billions of rupees every year. There is a possibility that PSQCA and other relevant departments might be showing criminal negligence in implementation of PSQCA mandatory SRO 46(KE)/ 2017 [PS: 3128] dated 19-5-2017 under pressure from the millers whose majority looks after its short term benefit rather than preferring the use of food grade packing of wheat flour that can stop waste of wheat flour of billions of rupee . Everyone understands that wheat flour is a lifeline for millions of Pakistanis who are facing acute poverty and struggling for at least one meal a day. Since PPWSMA has now taken up the case with Rana Tanveer Hussain , a vibrant federal minister for National Food Security and Research , its hoped that he will take quick action and order implementation of PSQCA SRO for ensuring the use of food grade packing for stopping waste of huge quantity of wheat flour that may help millions of poor and save billions of rupees of Pakistan that are being wasted in the use of traditional unhealthy packing of wheat flour for years.
