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ISLAMABAD: The government is considering different options, including the establishment of the Pakistan Food Authority (PFA), to monitor rising inflation.
Sources said replicating the models of the USA, UK, Australia, and India, the government is considering taking several steps to monitor rising inflation.
Sources further said the authorities are also considering different suggestions of which one is the establishment of a national regulator to have one food market and one law. Sources also highlighted that globally, food standards are regulated by the FAO/WHO Codex Alimentarius (Codex).
The Codex is a compilation of internationally adopted food standards that are managed by a Commission comprised of 187-member states, including Pakistan. The Codex offers member states the chance to jointly develop international food standards and supply member states with standards that can form the source of national food standards.
Codex became the WTO standards for which the international trade in food would be regulated in 1995. Since the acknowledgment of Codex as the global standard for food and the trade-in food, most countries have established a national regulatory authority for food that oversees national food control systems.
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations can be approached to precisely advise the government of Pakistan on the development of a national regulatory authority for food control, in line with global best practice, the sources concluded.
Earlier, Prime Minister Imran Khan had directed the concerned authorities to take administrative steps by adopting modern systems to bring down prices of essential items.
The Prime Minister expressed his views while chairing a high-level meeting to mull over steps for reducing the prices of essential items, adding that the lower segment of the society was mostly affected by the hike in flour price.
He said that the federal government was completely focused on providing relief to the common man and it will ensure taking concrete steps by establishing modern systems for reducing the essential items’ prices.
The premier asked relevant authorities to finalize the recommendations besides ensuring their implementation. Meanwhile, the premier also ordered a massive crackdown against land grabbers across Punjab.
PM Imran directed the Punjab inspector general of police and the chief secretary to launch a province-wide crackdown on the land mafia. He also directed the authorities to submit a report about the operation to him on weekly basis.
