Effective coalitions in WTO required to secure economic interests: Nouraiz
By Asad Cheema

ISLAMABAD—Minister for Science and Technology, Ch. Nouraiz Shakoor Khan on Thursday emphasized the need of building effective coalitions in World Trade Organisation (WTO) to secure trade and economic interests of the country in the new era.
This will help us engage pro-actively in national standards setting and integrate in up-coming standards economy, he said while addressing a workshop on Standardization and Certification.
The two-day workshop is being organized by the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) in collaboration with Pakistan Standards and Quality Control Authority (PSQCA) and Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI).
Nouraiz Shakoor said standardization and certification have fostered a form which closely associates with an aim to break down technical barriers to trade. This would promote the participation of the economic and social partners, he added.
The Minister said globalization has become a driving force for change in political, economic, social and cultural arenas and has changed the face of commerce and trade, especially with liberalization of trade under WTO, with markets and economics being the denominators of success.
He said there is a dire need to formulate not only a solid set of standards but also a comprehensive system of certification to verify the conformity of products and added these standards would streamline the process of developing concepts, procedures and designs to achieve and maintain the most effective levels of compatibility. In this respect, Nouraiz Shakoor appreciated the role of UNIDO which he hoped would help the country in boosting up the international market accessibility through standardization and certification. Nouraiz Shakoor said Pakistan Standards and Quality Control Authority (PSQCA) was established to provide one window standardization, quality control and other technical services. PSQCA is striving hard to develop conformity assessment procedures, based on international standards and to have accreditation from internationally recognized bodies, he added. The Minister said Pakistan National Accreditation Council (PNAC) was established to play an important role in accreditation of laboratories and produces quality culture in the country.
This Body emphasizes upon the consumers to demand quality products and services, which will subsequently lead to protection of their right to safety and accurate information. In his welcome address, Chief Technical Advisor of UNIDO, Zawdu Felleke said the workshop is being conducted under Trade Related Technical Assistance (TRTA) programme funded by the European Union and implemented by UNIDO.
The European Union (EU) is funding a cooperation programme with the government of Pakistan on TRTA to provide support to Pakistan in building the necessary capacity to address trade related issues, thereby fostering its integration into world economy and contributing to poverty alleviation. The TRTA programme involves strengthening of metrology, standards, testing and quality (MSTQ) infrastructure in Pakistan. This is one of the three main components of TRTA implemented by the (UNIDO).
UNIDO is also upgrading various measurement and testing laboratories, oriented to export industries for international accreditation to ISO- 17025 by providing equipment and training as well as fielding experts to assess, upgrade and conduct accreditation of these laboratories.