PSQCA Certification: When It Applies and When It Does Not

PSQCA is Pakistan's national standards body, with one compulsory and one voluntary scheme

The Pakistan Standards and Quality Control Authority was established by Act-VI of 1996 and has functioned since 1 December 2000. It combines a Standards Development Centre, a Quality Control Centre and a Technical Services Centre (PSQCA's ISO member page).

It is Pakistan's ISO member body and the country's National Enquiry Point. When a foreign buyer asks which Pakistani standard applies to a product, PSQCA is the body that publishes the answer.

A manufacturer may meet several other Pakistani regulators. The Pakistan Halal Authority handles halal, the Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan registers medicines and devices, the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority regulates fuels, and the Pakistan Council of Scientific and Industrial Research runs industrial testing. Provincial environment departments, such as the Environment Protection Department in Punjab, handle discharge consent. For PSQCA's own schemes, the starting point is the PSQCA site.

Confusing the two schemes is the most common error.

Food and electrical goods dominate the compulsory list, and textiles are largely absent

The PSQCA site publishes the list of compulsory items to meet Pakistan Standards. Serial numbers run from 1 to 176.

Garments, fabrics and made-ups don't appear as a compulsory category, so a textile exporter is not the natural audience for a PS Mark.

If a manufacturer makes bottled water, LED lamps, cables or cement, compulsory certification is likely to apply, and there is no route around it.

The list page cites no law, so cite the Ministry's notification for the legal basis

The compulsory list page on the PSQCA site cites no section, SRO or gazette number. It is a table of products and standards with no legal citation, so don't describe it as a statutory notification.

The government notification does cite a section. The Ministry of Science and Technology publishes the list under the title "List of mandatory items notified by the Government under Section 14 of PSQCA Act VI of 1996 (updated 01-09-2020)", at most.comsatshosting.com/publications/psqcalist.pdf. That document is the citable source for the legal basis.

One gap remains. Individual SRO or gazette notification numbers per product could not be established from published sources. If you need a specific notification number, ask PSQCA directly; don't infer it.

Imports into Pakistan must meet the same standards as domestic goods

For a trading business, this is the requirement most often missed.

PSQCA operates as an inspection body under Section 8, sub-section II of the PSQCA Act 1996. It conducts both pre-shipment and post-shipment inspection to ISO/IEC 17020 at sea ports, dry ports and airports, a duty set out in PSQCA's import and export section.

The operative text, reproduced on that page, is from the Import Policy Order 2016, Section 5-B-II: "import of goods shall be subject to the same national quality standards or regulations as are prescribed in respect of similar and domestically produced goods. List of such standards and regulations notified by the PSQCA are specified vide Appendix-N".

So a foreign manufacturer exporting into Pakistan faces the same quality standards as a domestic manufacturer. If bottled water or LED lamps are compulsory-certified for domestic sale, imported equivalents face the same requirement, with the covered goods listed in Appendix-N.

Importers must hold a checklist, an application, complete consignee information and an undertaking, all published on the same PSQCA page. Clearance is obtained through the Pakistan Single Window, as a release order or a conformity assessment.

A Certification Marks licence brings quarterly surveillance after the grant

For a manufacturer seeking a Certification Marks licence, the published process has these stages:

1. Application submitted.

2. Scrutiny and registration, stated as two man-days.

3. Preliminary factory evaluation.

4. Sample collection, stated as one day.

5. Testing in the factory, stated as one to two days, and in the laboratory, stated as seven days.

6. Grant of the Certification Marks licence, stated as 30 days.

7. Surveillance, review and renewal.

8. Possible expiry, cancellation, suspension or withdrawal.

Surveillance recurs. PSQCA states periodic factory visits, factory sample testing and market sample testing, each on a quarterly basis, so a licence carries a continuing obligation, not a one-off cost.

A register of valid licences is published, and the list itself is readable. The separate verification portal at pas.psqca.com.pk returned a server error when tested, so don't rely on that portal alone.

No fee is quoted here, because the available schedule dates from 2017-18

PSQCA publishes a testing-fee schedule and an importer fee structure. The available testing schedule is dated 2017-18, and no current schedule was located. A 2017 schedule is not a reliable basis for a 2026 budget, and a stale figure would be worse than none.

Request the current schedule from PSQCA before committing to a budget.

What Tti Labs offers for a PSQCA conformity file

• PNAC accreditation LAB-022 under ISO/IEC 17025, covering the physical, chemical and analytical testing that supports a conformity file.

• Inspection under ISO/IEC 17020 accreditation, listed on the PNAC inspection bodies register.

• Testing evidence for the product categories where PSQCA standards apply, including food and agricultural products through the food and agri testing service.

• Testing for electrical, packaging and construction-adjacent materials, where parameters fall within the accredited scope.

• A published laboratory scope a buyer can check, to confirm a method is covered before commissioning it. The registers are at PNAC accredited laboratories.

Tti Labs is not PSQCA and does not issue the PS Mark or a Certification Marks licence. It does not certify conformity to Pakistan Standards, and it is not a notified or accredited certification body for that scheme. PSQCA issues the licence. Tti Labs produces test evidence.