Pakistan Fish Inspection and Quality Control Act, 1997

This Act regulates the quality of fish and fishery products in Pakistan, mainly to make sure fish exported abroad meets minimum quality standards. It applies to the whole of Pakistan and covers fish processing plants, fish exporters, and the officials who inspect them.

Section 3 requires every fish processing plant to be registered with a registration authority before it can process fish, and Section 4 similarly requires anyone exporting fish or fishery products to be registered. Section 5 sets up an Inspection Committee, made up of representatives of the Export Promotion Bureau, the Marine Fisheries Department, and the trade association of fish processing plants, which surveys plants for fitness to register, hears appeals against Fishery Officers' decisions, and advises the government on the industry.

Section 6 lets a Fishery Officer inspect any processing plant and, notably, arrest without a warrant anyone operating an unregistered plant. Section 7 bans exporting or dealing in fish that is decomposed, unwholesome, or contaminated. Section 8 bars people with contagious diseases such as leprosy or tuberculosis from handling or processing fish. Section 9 requires substandard fish to be detained and disposed of, and Section 10 lists the Fishery Officer's powers, including inspection, registration, issuing quality certificates, and detaining unfit fish.

Section 12 sets out penalties for violations: a fine up to fifty thousand rupees for a first conviction, rising to one hundred thousand and then two hundred thousand rupees for later convictions, and imprisonment up to one year or a fine up to three hundred thousand rupees for any conviction after that. Company directors and managers can be held personally liable if the offending company is convicted. Sections 13 and 14 give Fishery Officers powers to search premises and seize contaminated fish, and Section 15 allows an aggrieved party to seek revision of a Committee order from the Federal Government within thirty days.

The remaining sections protect officials from legal liability for actions taken in good faith (Section 16), allow the government to delegate its powers (Section 17), and authorize rules covering registration procedures, fees, quality standards, and sample testing (Section 18). As a 1997 law, it is relatively modern, but readers should still confirm current fee and penalty amounts against the official text since rules made under it may have been updated since enactment.