No mechanism to monitor the safety and quality standards of cars in Pakistan

To everyone’s surprise, there is no regulatory body in Pakistan that monitors or approves the safety and quality standards of cars produced locally in the country.

The situation was revealed by the Ministry of Industries and Production that denied its role in inspecting the quality standards and safety features offered in the locally manufactured cars in Pakistan. The Ministry told in response to the update acquired by the parliamentary committee on the safety and standards of local cars. MoIP informed that the entire process was not a part of its mandate and also denied the role of its relevant attached department, Engineering Development Board (EDB) in it. According to the officials of the Ministry of Industries and Production, EDB is only mandated for certain verification that includes:

EDB is said to be only responsible for verifying the imported completely knocked down (CKD) units under the above-mentioned SRO’s. The Secretary of Ministry of Industries and Production Afzal Latif told that currently there is no mechanism in Pakistan to inspect the safety and standards maintained by the local auto manufacturers. MoIP doesn’t even check the road-worthiness or pricing of the locally manufactured vehicles. He further said that the inspection falls under the mandate of an attached department of the Ministry of Science and Technology i.e. Pakistan Standard Quality Control Authority (PSQCA). On the other hand, an official of EDB told the parliamentary committee that vehicles were not listed among the mandatory item list of PSQCA which means no regulatory authority comes out as responsible for such inspection. The EDB officials also briefed that its role along with MoIP is bound to offering a policy framework for the auto industry and process requests under ADP 2016-21. It aims to attract new investments in the country by offering Greenfield and Brownfield status to automakers for the manufacturing of vehicles in the country.

On the other hand, a representative of Toyota Indus told the committee that despite any regulation in the country, they have complied with international safety standards. All its vehicles produced 2016 onward, come equipped with dual airbags and other essential safety features. It is worthy to mention here that Honda Atlas still produces its City model with no airbags in any of its six variants in the local market.

The response of parliamentary committee members:

In response to the briefing by several officials of different departments, the committee members criticized the previous governments for not setting up the checking mechanism for vehicles in the country. The vehicles currently produced locally comprise of low-quality material at the cost of sky-rocketing prices. The relevant ministries were also alleged as the beneficiaries of the entire system as they allowed the auto manufacturers to continue producing low standard vehicles for years. The members of the committee also declared the imported 660cc hatchbacks as a much better option in terms of quality standards and safety features than any of the vehicles produced locally under any segment.

A proposal of a new regulatory body in the upcoming budget:

The Secretary of MoIP, however, denied all such allegations of receiving benefits from the local auto players. At the same time, he informed that their ministry, in the upcoming budget, is proposing a completely separate department for inspecting the standards of cars. It will also be equipped with mandatory inspection laboratories and essential machinery for vehicle testing.

MoIP wants to make Pakistan a member of the Working Party (WP)-29:

The Ministry of Industries and Production is also in the process of making Pakistan a member of the Working Party (WP)-29. The federal cabinet has also approved the adoption summary of WP-29 which now awaits assessment from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, after which it will be submitted to the UN Secretariat. Working Party (WP)-29 is a unique worldwide regulatory forum working within the framework of the UNECE Inland Transport Committee. It ensures vehicle regulations including safety, environmental and quality standards and provides a regulatory framework for the global automotive industry. By becoming a member of WP-29, all the local automakers will have to comply with certain regulations under WP-forum.

The committee, however, invited the next meeting to discuss the automobile-related taxation issues. Also, the officials of FBR, Ministry of Commerce, PSQCA and EDB will also be invited to further discuss the quality standards of vehicles in Pakistan. That’s it from our side. Stay tuned to PakWheels for more updates on this matter. Share your valuable opinion in the comments section.

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