profit.com.pk

4,000 Bio-gas plants installedacross Pakistan Page 2

Saturday, 24 March, 2012

Neighbourly love

Do you have a

millioncubic feeT

of gasa Day To spare?

n Pakistan to importpetroleum products

from Indian To bring notificationnext month allowing

petrol importsn Pakistan aims to build

first LNG terminal bysecond-half of 2013

n Shell, Daewoo among4-5 firms eyeing LNG

supply to Pakistan NEW DELHI

REUTERS

THE Pakistani government is ex-pected to bring out a notifica-tion next month allowing importof certain goods, includingpetrol and food items fromIndia, Energy Secretary Ejaz

Chaudhry said on Friday. Pakistan agreedlast November to open up more trade with

India by replacing a list of items its biggerneighbour can sell across the border witha shorter list of items that cannot betraded -- a move regarded as key to im-proving commercial ties.

Pakistan has agreed in principle togrant access to imports from India underthe Most Favoured Nation status, but hasyet to fully implement the change.

"We have granted the Most FavouredNation status to India. Our cabinet hasapproved it," Chaudhry told reporters inthe Indian capital.

"Our commerce ministry is in the finalstage of documentation of a notification tobring out certain items from negative list,including petrol," he said. "The notifica-tion should be out in 14 to 15 days."

Pakistan currently bans imports of In-dian gasoline. It allowed diesel importsfrom India in 2009, but no Indian sup-plies were sent in the face of preferentialprices offered by Pakistan's allies such asKuwait.

India's oil minister S. Jaipal Reddysaid in January that the country was ex-amining a proposal to export petroleumproducts and gasoline to neighbouringPakistan.

Chaudhry said Pakistan was aiming tobuild its first liquefied natural gas (LNG)terminal, which it hopes to commission inthe second-half of the next year.

Four-to-five companies, includingglobal oil major Royal Dutch Shell andSouth Korea's Daewoo, have shown inter-est in supplying LNG to Pakistan under atender seeking 500 million cubic feet aday (MCFD) gas, he said.

KUNWAR KHULDUNE SHAHID

THE sight of China flexing itsfiscal triceps has given theUS the creeps for quitesome time now. Even so,

China is now soaring towards be-coming that perfectly toned – yetwith bulging muscles – wrestler inthis geopolitical WrestleMania, whois stuffed with daunting tissue-workall over his physique – enough to joltone and all of his challengers. Hence,with Beijing regularly working outon and flexing its foreign policy mus-cles, there was always going to be ashift in Washington’s course of ac-tion – from the ‘avoid offendingChina’ to now the ‘Asia pivot’ – tomake its presence felt in the regionand on the globe.

In November last year, PresidentBarack Obama announced this newmove towards teaming up withChina’s neighbours and to press thesecond-largest economy in the worldto “play by the rules”. And of courseit’s the US that has been scribing thisrule book for a considerable timespan now, and has funnily enoughbroken most of its basic constituentsitself. The move also coincided withthe US announcing its intentions of‘wrapping up’ the wars in Iraq andAfghanistan, and taking a plunge to-

wards the Far East, wherein thebiggest threat in the way of its globalhegemony is on an influence-ex-panding spree.

Beijing greeted this US manoeu-vre by upping the ante on its defencebudget, which has now taken itsshare in the region’s military budgetpie to a mammoth 30 per cent. Chinahad already been increasing its de-fence budget by 10 per cent perannum, but the recent retort hasupped the temperature on this Asia-Pacific geostrategic oven by a goodmany notches. The superpowers con-centrating their military strength inAsia is the logical corollary of the re-gion’s precipitous ascent as far aseconomy growth is concerned andhence, it is also a no-brainer thatWashington is eying the prospect ofa geopolitical shift and is vying to ce-ment itself as a veritable powerhousein the Asia Pacific – even if the op-portunity cost is, having to cut backelsewhere.

With the US seemingly losing outon the battle of the hefty wallets, it isimperative that Washington givesBeijing a scare in the battle of can-nons, since China is possibly the onlycountry that can give the US a runfor its money as far as military andeconomic might is concerned. Addthe fact that two of the most volatile

regions, which appear to be hanker-ing after an excuse to flare up – theKorean Peninsula and the SouthChina Sea – into the mix and you getWashington covering more than afew share of its bases via a single op-eration.

Then there is the small matter ofstratagem with regards to Iran toconsider in this little debate as well.For, if Tehran persists steadfastly inits quest of being that stubborn littledevil for Washington with its un-yielding policy on uranium enrich-ment, the US might have to keep asignificant share of the militaristicwherewithal in Iran as well; andcould have a massive bearing on boththe timing and the strength of Wash-ington’s martial manoeuvre with re-gards to China.

Keeping a worldwide militaryreach is crucial if you have your eyesset on meddling in the affairs of everysingle region on the planet. Neverthe-less, it’s the Chinese dragon, with itsflaring all-round clout, which is givingUncle Sam a continuum of sleeplessnights as of now; and is indubitablyon the top of the angst list as far asObama is concerned.

The writer is Sub-Editor,Pakistan Today. He can be reachedat khulduneshahid@gmail.com

Obama pivots USangst towards Asia

2 major US oil companies interested in TAPI pipelineNEW DELHI: Two major U.S. oil companies are interested in a four-country pipeline that would ship gasworth billions of dollars from Turkmenistan to India and Pakistan, a U.S. government official said on Friday.The building of the U.S.-backed "TAPI" pipeline through some of Afghanistan's most volatile regions presentsa major challenge, adding to the project's other hurdles such as gas pricing and transit fees. "A couple ofmajor U.S. oil companies are interested," said Daniel Stein, senior advisor to the special envoy for EurasianEnergy in the United States. "We would like to see a U.S. company involved at some point in TAPI." He de-clined to name the companies. The governments of Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India are aim-ing to sign by July 31 the TAPI pipeline deal. REUTERS

The fiery Chinese dragon is ensuring that the Washington drawing board is working overtime

PDF Profit_Layout 1 3/24/2012 3:35 AM Page 1

news02Saturday, 24 March, 2012

LAHORE

STAFF REPORT

P UNJAB Chief Minister Muhammad ShahbazSharif has directed that solid planning bemade for a balanced supply of water forirrigation purposes for achieving agri

targets. He said that Punjab government ismodernizing canal system through organized andmeaningful reforms as the goal of agri self-sufficiency cannot be achieved without improvingand harmonizing irrigation system with thechanging requirements. He said that in addition tomodernizing the 37000-km long canal network,participation of farming community in themanagement of canals and water channels has beenensured. He said that Punjab province is consideredas the food basket of Pakistan and comprehensivemeasures are being taken for maintaining thisidentity of the province and uplift of agri sector. Hewas presiding over a meeting regarding availabilityof canal water for agri purposes in the province, heretoday. Provincial Minister for Irrigation Malik

Ahmad Ali Aulakh, Secretary Agriculture,Consultant Irrigation Department M.H. Siddiqui,Director Met Office and officers concerned werepresent. The meeting considered in depth the supplysituation of canal water for Rabi season 2011-12.Addressing the meeting, the Chief Minister said thatPunjab government is taking revolutionarymeasures for the uplift of agri sector and a huge sumof Rs. 19.15 billion is being spent on various projectsof agri development including irrigation of morethan one lakh acre agri land through drip irrigation,reformation of seven thousand water channels andprovision of laser land units to cultivators. He saidthat these projects will help modernize agri sector.He said that Punjab is an agrarian province andachievement of agri targets is not possible withoutavailability of water. He said that construction ofwater reservoirs is essential for meeting agri needs.He said that small dams are also being constructedin Barani areas for this purpose. He expressed thehope that small farmers who have obtained tractorsunder Green Tractor Scheme will pay specialattention to increasing per acre yield.

LAHORE

STAFF REPORT

THE Lahore Chamber ofCommerce and Industry (LCCI)Thursday inked Memorandum

of Understanding (MoU) with Instituteof Space & Technology (IST) enablingall the LCCI members to initiate jointresearch projects with IST to addressR&D related issues. The LCCIPresident Irfan Qaiser Sheikh inked theMoU on behalf of the Lahore Chamberof Commerce and Industry while theInstitute of Space & Technology wasrepresented by its Vice ChancellorEngineer Imran Rehman. As per the MoU, the LCCI willencourage its members to initiate jointresearch projects with faculty andresearches of Institute of Space andTechnology. The MoU will helpstrengthen the relations between theLahore Chamber of Commerce andIndustry and Institute of Space &Technology. The LCCI members mayseek the expertise and the consultancyof IST faculty and researchers inproduct and process design anddevelopment. The LCCI members canalso utilize the lab testing facilities onactual cost basis.LCCI and IST will also jointly developneed-based Professional Developmentshort courses on subsidized rates forLCCI members to keep them abreast oflatest and upcoming technologies,management tools and techniques.

Venue of these courses may be at ISTIslamabad or LCCI. LCCI membersmay also avail the short termprofessional development coursesbeing offered by IST regularly as pertraining calendar. LCCI will help IST inimplementation of itsEntrepreneurship DevelopmentProgram by nominating successfulentrepreneurs to interact with IST’sstudents and staff on monthly basis.The Lahore Chamber of Commerce andIndustry will provide technicalassistance to IST in establishment ofBusiness Incubation Centre at IST.LCCI will help IST in placement of IST’sstudents on internship in variousmember industries. LCCI will help toprepare a list of projects to address anyindustrial issue, pertaining to academicand research expertise available at IST,being/to be faced by LCCI memberindustries that can be assigned to IST’sstudents as final year project. A jointReview Board having equalrepresentation (maximum 2 from eachside) from LCCI and IST will decide theallocation of final year projects to IST’sstudents. LCCI and IST may nominaterepresentative on the Governing andAdvisory Committees of eachorganization on reciprocal basis.Speaking at the MoU signing ceremony,the LCCI President Irfan Qaiser Sheikhthat the Lahore Chamber of Commerceand Industry believes in strengtheningof Industry-University linkage to turnthe country economically strong.

LCCI ups the anteon research, signsMOU with IST

KARACHI

STAFF REPORT

On WoW basis, the market alsowitnessed slight decline this weekfollowing flat performance of lastweek. However, this time around,market volumes also remained on thelower side.KSE100 index was down only 24pts (-0.18%) WoW to close at 13,273pts.“The week started with a huge declineof 219pts in its first trading sessionowing to profit-taking witnessed fromthe local participants taking themarket to recent lows of 13,077pts,”said Mazhar A. Sabir, an analyst atInvestcCap.However, on the following day, themarket recovered pulling back 225ptson the back of foreign and localinterest mainly in E&P, cement,fertilizer and the Banking sectorsstocks. However, in the last twotrading sessions, the market remaineddull and hovered in the range of13,200pts and 13,300pts level. On theeconomic facade, country’s currentaccount deficit ballooned toUSD2.95bn in 8MFY12.However, on the other hand, WBapproved funds of USD1.09bn forenergy and irrigation systems, whichwould create fresh liquidity in thesystem. On the political front, theverdict on the PM-related issue

continued to be held during the week,which kept investors on the sideline.As a result, average traded valueduring the week stood at USD75.1mn(down 4.4%WoW), while averagetraded volumes were at 249mn shares(down 38% WoW). On the other hand,foreign inflows to equities continuedto be in green and stood at USD2.9mnagainst ~USD1.6mn recorded lastweek, showing foreign interest in Pakequities. Market's open interest position duringthe week declined by PKR226mn(down 9.8% WoW) to stand atPKR2.1bn. Futures volumes followedthe same path as they also massivelydeclined by 11.2% WoW to 11.7mnshares. However, futures spreads wentup by 1,074bps WoW to 23.27%. Thetop-5 scrips at the futures counterholding 67% of the total open interestwere ENGRO, FFC, DGKC , POL andOGDC.“We expect coming week to be thecrucial one for the market asdevelopments on the much-awaitedPresidential Order will be eagerlyeyed, which is deemed vital forsustained market activity,” said Sabir.Any positive development in thisregard would act as a trigger for themarket, he added. However, any delayon the same would render seriousimpacts on equities’ values as well asvolumes and liquidity, he warned.

All eyes onpresidential order

Punjab CM vows to open proverbial water tapsg Wants balanced water supply via irrigation g Vies to modernise canal network

ISLAMABAD

ONLINE

Around 4000 Bio-gas plants have beeninstalled across the country for demon-stration purpose on cost sharing basis.

Bio-gas plant technology was intro-duced in 1974 in Pakistan.

Apart from Government, a numberof NGOs have installed bio-gas plantsfor domestic use in the rural areas ofPakistan against the technical potentialof about five millions digesters based onits suitable climates and availability offeed stock – the cow-dunk.

Sources said that the major contri-bution and introduction of the Bio-gastechnology is by Pakistan Council forRenewable Energy Technologies(PCRET), an autonomous organizationof Ministry of Science & Technology(MoST) was focusing on developing re-newable energy technologies to meet fu-ture energy requirements of the

country. “PCRET has also involved in the

R&D to improve the performance andefficiency of Bio-gas plants especially incold and low temperature conditions foradoption and improvement of differentmodels in view of local culture and en-vironmental conditions” sources added.

“PCRET is providing technicalknow-how and guidance for installationof large size Bio-gas plants for waterpumping and power generation” sourcesobserved adding that MoST thorough itsnumber of organizations was workingon the R&D and manufacturing of Solarenergy gadgets.

Pakistan Renewable Energy Tech-nologies (PCRET), National Institute ofElectronics (NIE), Pakistan Council forScientific and Industrial Research(PCSIR) and National University of 20Science and Technology (NUST) hasmade considerable contribution.

Well placed sources, Friday, told

‘ONLINE’ that working on design anddevelopment of 6 watts, 12 watts, 18watts and 46 watts LED lights to be illu-minated through Solar energy was alsounderway.

The PCRET has designed and devel-oped Solar Energy Geysers, SolarLantern and other appliances and trans-ferred to local manufacturers. Recently,PCRET and NIE have entered into a col-laborative project with Telephone In-dustry of Pakistan (TIP) for productionof Solar Lantern initially and later onother Solar energy products i.e SolarStreet Lights, Solar water heaters andSolar fans etc.

NIE and PCRET will provide TIPtechnical know-how and basic materialswhereas; TIP will use its production linefor production of these items on com-mercial scale. NIE is also working ondesign and development of 6 watts, 12watts, 18 watts and 46 watts LED lightsto be illuminated through Solar energy.

4,000 Bio-gas plants installed across Pakistan

CCOP approves sale

of 2.5pc shares of PPLISLAMABAD

STAFF REPORT

The Cabinet Committee on Privatization(CCOP) on Thursday approved the sec-ondary public offering (SPO) of 2.5 per-cent of the government shareholding inthe Pakistan Petroleum Limited (PPL)and constituted a committee to deter-mine the strike price for the off loadingof the shares.The meeting was chaired by the FinanceMinister Dr. Abdul Hafeez Shaikh. Thecommittee agreed in principle to approvethe summary moved by the PrivatizationCommission, for the transaction struc-ture and pricing for the entity’s SPO.The summary has authorized FinanceMinister to ratify the strike price deter-mined through book building process orresolve to meet urgently to decide on thestrike price. After much deliberation onthe strike price and proposed transactionstructure, the chairman decided to con-stitute a sub-committee under Ministerfor Water and Power, including Ministerfor Petroleum Secretary Privatizationand Chairman SECP, to fine tune thetransaction structure, strike price andother aspects of the proposal and theywill submit their recommendations.In the summary, the Privatization Com-mission proposed to CCOP for sale of 2.5percent of the government shareholdingof PPL through the transaction structurewhich envisages 50 percent of the gov-ernment share to be offered to institu-tions and high net worth individualsthrough book building, while 25 percentof shares to be offered to foreign in-vestors through preferential allocationand the remaining 25 percent shares tothe public through subscription.

Market's open interest position during the week declinedby PKR226mn (down 9.8pc WoW) to stand at Rs2.1bn

PDF Profit_Layout 1 3/24/2012 3:35 AM Page 2

news

Saturday, 24 March, 2012

03

CORPORATE CORNERSybrid’s contact centre for TelenorPakistan to create 500 jobs

ISLAMABAD: Lakson Group subsidiary Sybrid(Pvt.) Ltd., a Business Process Outsourcing company,has completed a state-of-the-art contact centre whichit will manage for Telenor Pakistan. The new centre -- which will create jobs for 500 talented Pakistani in-

dividuals -- will allow for efficient process handlingto meet growing customer needs. The collaborationhas led to an investment of Rs100 million by LaksonGroup to build the supporting infrastructure.To markthe completion, an inauguration ceremony was heldwhich was attended by senior officials of LaksonGroup, Sybrid and Telenor Pakistan. Iqbal AliLakhani, Chairman, Lakson Group and CEO Sybridspeaking at the inauguration said: “We are proud tohave completed the project well before the stipulateddeadline. This is the first step Sybrid has taken to pro-viding Telenor Pakistan a holistic customer servicespackage, and we look forward to allowing them toenjoy sustained cost and efficiency advantagesthrough this partnership.” PRESS RELEASE

Indus Motor holds 2012Suppliers ConventionKARACHI: “Auto vendors and suppliers should con-tinue lending their excellent support to the local autoindustry and work together as a team to meet thegrowing demand of Pakistani market.” These viewswere expressed by the Parvez Ghias CEO, Indus MotorCompany (IMC) at the company's Annual SuppliersConvention. He said that under the theme ‘Achieving

Goals, Together!’, the event is an annual feature withthe aim of recognizing the efforts of the IMC vendors.Specially emphasizing on safety at workplace, qualityand cost competitiveness, Ghias said that these threefactors are the preconditions of a business. Evaluatinglast year’s performance, A One, was recognized topperforming vendor for the year 2011-12, while OmarJibran (OJ) and Metaline were awarded Supplier Ex-cellence Award. STAFF REPORT

Creativity comes to life at ‘SamsungGALAXY Note Studio’ in LahoreLAHORE The Samsung GALAXY Note Studio wasa 3- day event, held at a Shopping Mall in Lahore,which showcased the multiple hi-tech features ofthe Galaxy Note - The first tablet and smart phonehybrid. The event especially focused on the digital“Caricature feature”and its creative applications.The users can now create drawings, caricatures andeven compose music with multiple instruments,within the device itself. While the event floor re-mained flooded with excited visitors, skilled artistswere busy at the event, drawing caricatures of theparticipants, using the Galaxy Note, which featuresthe revolutionary “S Pen” technology for capturing

creative ideas. These caricatures were also printedon mugs and T-shirts as souvenirs. Various celebri-ties from the media enjoyed the colorful activity,caricatures made and printed for them and specialdiscount for all visitors on purchasing of the smart-phone. PRESS RELEASE

PASSCO to initiate wheatprocurement driveLAHORE: Punjab Food Department and PakistanAgricultural Storage and Services Corporation(PASSCO) are all set to initiate annual wheat procure-ment drive by sometimes in the second week of April.Both federal and provincial procurement agencieshave made financing arrangements and awaiting thegovernment to announce procurement targets andsupport price. Punjab Food Director Najam Shah andPASSCO General Manager (Field) Col (R) TanveerHussain made this announcement during a pre-har-vest wheat workshop organised by the AgriculturalJournalists Association (AJA) here on Friday. Stake-holders, including farmers’ representatives, govern-ment procurement agencies, flour millers andexporters, attended the workshop besides good num-ber of journalists. STAFF REPORT

LAHORE

STAFF REPORT

THE Lahore Chamber of Com-merce and Industry Friday ap-pealed to the Chief MinisterPunjab to declare Katar Bund

Industrial area as Industrial Estate asdespite paying an amount of Rs 1 bil-lion to the national exchequer, the areais without even the basic amenities.

The LCCI President Irfan QaiserSheikh raised the demand after havinga meeting with four-member delegationof Katarbund Road Industrial Associa-tion led by its President Syed MehmoodGhaznavi here at the Lahore Chamberof Commerce and Industry. The othermembers of the delegation includedSenior Vice President of the Associa-tion Mohammad Nawaz, General Secre-tary Chaudhry Mohammad Yousaf and

Finance Secretary Mohammad Subhan.The LCCI president said that it seemedthat the Katar Bund Road industrialarea does belong to the Punjab govern-ment as despite being at a few kilome-tres away from Thokar Niaz Baig, it hascompletely broken roads and no sewer-age system and lack of facilities that al-ways discourage foreign and localbuyers.

The LCCI President said that gov-ernment should focus on improving theinfrastructure and law and order situa-tion in this industrial area and dacoitiesand theft are order of the day. The Pres-ident Katar bund road Industrial Asso-ciation Syed Mehmood Ghaznviinformed the LCCI President that theKatar Bund Industrial Area was estab-lished four decades back and as manyas 150 small and medium industrialunits are operating in this area today.

They complained that both the provin-cial and the district governments hadneglected the area and no developmentwork, including the maintenance of in-frastructure, was carried out in pastone decade. Mehmood Ghaznavi saidthat the industrial units in the estate in-clude a renowned multinational phar-maceutical company, food industrywith a bread and milk processing plantand auto parts manufacturers. He saida transformer-manufacturing concernand a state-of-the-art plastic productunit were also operative in the area.

Mr Ghaznavi said there was no roadnetwork and pathways were unevenand bumpy, adding that dust spread allaround whenever a vehicle plied on theroads. He said the sewerage systempractically did not exist and pollutedwater could be seen accumulatedaround the industries. He said the

Katar Bund industries were depositingRs one billion as revenue every year,adding that the industries needed nofavour from the government but simplysought the facilities that were providedto other industrial areas.

He said the law and order situationin the Katar Bund Industrial Area waspathetic, adding that theft of trans-formers in industrial estates was notheard of but in the recent past twotransformers from the industries werestolen. He said the industrialists had togo from pillar to post to get connectionsfor new transformers even after makingfull payments, adding that the bureau-cratic hurdles in getting reconnectionafter transformers’ theft were the sameas those of the new connection. He saidthe law and order situation had gone solow that even the labourers of the areawere robbed.

LCCI wants CM to declare KatarBund area as Industrial Estate

LAHORE

STAFF REPORT

Provincial Minister for Livestock andDairy Development, Malik Ahmad AliAulakh has said that for the develop-ment of Sahiwal Cow, Nili Ravi buffaloand other breeds, a state-of-the-artsemen production unit is under-con-struction at Khizar Abad which willproduce one million semen doses an-nually.

This was stated by him while pre-siding over a meeting of Punjab Live-stock and Dairy Development Board(PLDDB), here today. Chief ExecutivePunjab Livestock and Dairy Develop-ment Board Maj. General (R) Muham-mad Ali Khan and other officers werealso present on this occasion. Provin-cial Minister said that Punjab govern-ment is giving special attention ofLivestock sector so that production ofmeat and milk could be increased. Hetold that Punjab government has allo-cated 2500 million rupees for the de-velopment of Livestock under AnnualDevelopment Programme.

Maj. Gen. (R) Muhammad AliKhan, CEO PLDDB informed that 100men as Artificial Insemination Assis-tant and 105 women as Livestock Ex-tension Worker from districtsMuzaffargarh, Layyah, Rajanpur and

Dera Ghazi Khan have been trained byPLDDB and are working in the field intheir respective areas. In the secondphase, 200 men and women belongingto districts Sialkot, Mianwali, Bhakkarand Narowal are being trained. Hesaid that work is speedily in progressin silage making project. He said ar-rival of machinery is expected by thelast week of April and soon silage willbe available to the farmers at econom-

ical rate.Malik Ahmed Ali Aulakh said Pun-

jab government is taking special inter-est in the development of livestocksector and strengthening of economythrough the development of this sectoris among its top priorities. He said,project of PLDDB will play an impor-tant role in the development of live-stock sector. He appreciated theactivities of the Board.

State-of-the-art facilitiesfor cows and buffaloesLivestock, Dairy Development chairman talks up his efforts

SECP, leading fund

managers agree

on capital market

promoting reformsISLAMABAD

STAFF REPORT

The Securities and Exchange Commission ofPakistan (SECP) and leading fund managers,from commercial banks and mutual fundshave agreed on a number of reforms andmeasures to promote local capital markets.An interactive session, chaired by Commis-sioner SECP Imtiaz Haider was held to bringtogether the regulator and leading marketparticipants from banks and mutual funds.The SECP Commissioner urged fund man-agers to take responsibility and to maintainthe trust of their clients and the public by ad-hering to values and ethical standards. Hediscussed the various products introduced bySECP to meet the different investment re-quirements of the investors, SIFC, cash-set-tled future contracts and improved debtinstruments price and quantity information.He observed, however, that there is no sig-nificant turnover in these products and em-phasized the need to identify the areas andfeatures of the products where changes canand should be made so that these productsbecome attractive for the investors. Manysuggestions were given by the participantsincluding the development of code of con-duct for traders and investment advisors.It was also suggested to revive the Insti-tute of Capital Market in order to promotecertification to help promote qualifiedprofessionals in the capital markets.

CORkEd!PSQCA cancels licenses

of 30 bottled water

manufacturing companies

ISLAMABAD

ONLINE

Licenses of 30 Bottled Drinking water manu-facturing companies of Bottled Drinkingwater have been canceled for not conformingto the prescribed standards and criterions inlast one year. Well placed sources at Pak-istan Standard Quality & Control Authority(PSQCA) told ‘ONLINE’ on Friday that ithad the mandate to monitor the quality ofBottled Drinking Water & Natural MineralWater. PSQCA held inspected of the qualityof bottled water manufactured by differentcompanies and found water manufacturedby several companies as substandard andconsequently it cancelled licenses of 30 com-panies. Sources said that it also rejected ap-plications filed by five companies for grant oflicenses on the basis of findings of checkingof samples submitted by the applicants. Moreover, sources revealed that PSQCA filedthree cases in different courts of law againstthe un-registered Companies without havingvalid Certification Marks (C.M) license ofBottled Drinking Water in the year 2011-12.It is pertinent to note here that the Certifica-tion Marks (C.M) Licence are issued to man-ufacturers of Bottled Drinking Water as perPakistan Conformity Assessment Rules 2011complying to relevant Pakistan StandardsSpecification for Bottled Drinking Water byPSQCA, the procedure adopted to check thequality of the Mineral Water / Bottled Drink-ing Water companies as per Pakistan Con-formity Assessment Rules 2011 is as under:The Authority deputes inspectors with ade-quate technical qualification, experiencedand knowledge in the field to conduct an in-spection for grant, renewal or surveillancewith regard to conformity of an article orprocess with the Pakistan Standard Specifi-cations. The inspections are conductedunder procedure of Pakistan Conformity As-sessment Rules 2011 Section-24 on quarterly& surprise visit basis to evidence that thecompany has complete infrastructure andskilled manpower to produce quality bottleddrinking water as per relevant PakistanStandard Specifications. Three Randomsamples are collected from the unit and aresealed. The sample No. 1 is sent for testing toQuality Control Centre, (PSQCA/Indepen-dent lab.), the second is retained in unit andthe third is kept in SDC/PSQCA for trans-parency of the product. During the inspec-tion, Field officer also tests the samples inunit laboratory as per relevant PakistanStandard. If the sample fails as per PakistanStandard, the units are asked to stop theproduction till the removal of defects so re-sampling can be done. Upon receipt of testreport from independent lab and after analy-sis, if it conforming otherwise non-confor-mance report for corrective action are issuedto the company. The Director (CA) office re-examines the case is and if found compliantto Pakistan Standards Specification for Bot-tled Drinking Water/Mineral Water the unitis informed for conformity of the product.

PDF Profit_Layout 1 3/24/2012 3:36 AM Page 3