ISLAMABAD: The ministry of commerce on Tuesday notified the implementation of labeling and printing conditions on imported goods from July 01, 2019.
The commerce ministry issued SRO 438(I)/2019 to amend Import Policy Order, 2016 and deferred the implementation of labeling requirement and mandatory description of goods in Urdu language till June 30, 2019.
The ministry imposed the conditions through SRO 237 (I)/ 2019 issued on February 19, 2019, under which it was made mandatory that the ingredients and details of the products (e.g. nutritional facts, usage instructions etc.) of the food products shall be printed in Urdu and English languages on the consumer packaging.
It is further made mandatory that the logo of the Halal certification body shall be printed on the consumer packaging. The ministry had made it clear that the labeling shall not be in the form of a sticker, over printing stamp or scratched labeling.
It is also made mandatory that the shipment shall be accompanied by a Halal Certificate issued by a Halal Certification Body, accredited with an Accrediting Body which is a member of International Halal Accreditation Forum (IHAF) or Standards Metrology Institute for Islamic Countries (SMIIC).
The ministry of commerce through the latest notification also amended the requirement of shelf life.
The ministry of commerce extended the labeling requirement on the demand of business community as a large number of imported consignments were stuck at the ports failing to meet the requirement.
