Pakistan Standards and Quality Control Authority Act, 1996

This Act establishes the Pakistan Standards and Quality Control Authority (PSQCA) as a body corporate headquartered in Karachi, responsible for setting and enforcing national standards and quality control across Pakistani products and services (Section 3). It replaced two earlier bodies -- the department of Central Testing Laboratories and the Pakistan Standards Institution -- which were dissolved on the Act's commencement under Section 37, with all their assets, staff, contracts, and pending legal cases transferred to the new Authority.

Section 4 vests overall direction of the Authority in a Board, which acts on sound principles of standardization and quality control while following Federal Government policy guidance. Section 5 sets out the Board's composition: it is chaired by the Minister for Science and Technology, with the Director-General as Vice-Chairman, several Deputy Director-Generals, and representatives from the Ministry of Commerce and the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry. Section 6 creates a much larger Advisory Council, drawing representatives from nearly every relevant federal ministry, provincial governments, universities, and industry bodies, to guide the Authority's various directorates. Section 7 provides for a Director-General to run day-to-day operations.

Chapter III (Sections 8 to 27) sets out the Authority's regulatory powers, including granting standard, conformity and safety marks and licences to products that meet Pakistan standards (with Sections 10 to 12 banning improper use of these marks or of certain protected names), restricting the export of certain articles (Section 13), prohibiting the manufacture, stocking, or sale of certain articles (Section 14), appointing Inspectors (Section 15), and hearing appeals against Authority decisions (Section 18). Sections 20 to 22 create penalties for misusing Authority marks or otherwise contravening the Act, though the specific fine or imprisonment amounts are not shown in the available extract, so they should be checked against the current text.

Section 34 requires the Authority's accounts to be audited annually by the Auditor General and made available for public inspection. Section 39 repeals the earlier Pakistan Standards Institution (Certification Marks) Ordinance, 1961.