BRIEF ABOUT STANDARDS DEVELOPMENT CENTRE (SDC) / CONFORMITY ASSESSMENT (C.A)
Standards Development Center (SDC) was established in 1951 with a mandate to formulate Pakistan Standards and check the quality of products, which notified by Federal Government through SRO.
After establishment of PSQCA through an Act of parliament i.e. PSQCA Act VI of 1996, PSI was dissolved and renamed as Standards Development Centre (SDC). Further SDC was bifurcated into standardization (for formulation of standards) and Conformity Assessment (for regulate the quality of products and certifications).
The offices of Conformity Assessment (C.A) are enhanced in major industrial cities throughout the Pakistan to facilitate the industry.
- Directorate Karachi Zone:
- Regional Office, Karachi
- Liaison office, Hyderabad
- Liaison office, Hub
- Directorate Quetta Zone
- Regional Office, Quetta
- Liaison Office, Sukkur
- Liaison Office, Gwadar
- Directorate Lahore Zone
- Regional Office, Lahore
- Liaison Office, Gujranwala
- Liaison Office, Faisalabad
- Directorate Multan Zone
- Liaison Office, Multan
- Liaison Office, Bhawalpur
- Directorate Islamabad Zone
- Regional Office, Islamabad
- Liaison Office, Rawalpindi
- Directorate Peshawar Zone
- Regional Office, Peshawar
- Liaison Office, Hattar
Pakistan Conformity Assessment Rules 2011 were formulated based on ISO 17065 and ISO 17067 Standards. Conformity Assessment (C.A) working as a third party certification body. Industries are allowed to use PS Mark for their certified product to gain the confidence of consumers at local as well as at export stage.
C.A-PSQCA regulates the quality of mandatory products notified by Federal Government of Pakistan as Technical regulation (105 products so far). The Technical Regulations are based on national / international standards as good regulatory practices (GRP) as per WTO – TBD guidelines. The same Technical Regulations are applicable at local stag as well as at import stage in compliance with the article 2.1 of TBT-WTO agreement. Furthermore, all the regulations (105) are also notified at WTO – TBT partial.
Schemes for Conformity Assessment.
Certification Marks (CM) license scheme for the local manufacturers of mandatory product. In this scheme local manufacturers get the license for their product notified by the Federal government as Technical Regulations.
Voluntary Conformity Assessment (VCA) license Scheme for the local manufacturers of non-mandatory product. In this scheme local manufacturers get the license for their non-mandatory product against Pakistan Standard to gain the confidence of consumer on the quality of their product.
Foreign Manufacturing License (FML) Scheme for the foreign manufacturers of mandatory/ non mandatory products against Pakistan Standards/ Pakistan Technical Regulation for ease of doing business and entry of their product in Pakistan.
Conformity Assessment Report (CAR) Scheme for clearance for individual import consignment of mandatory products. This scheme is like Certificate of Conformity (CoC) in other countries. In this scheme importer get the conformity certificate of the quality of their consignment for mandatory products at port of entry.
Certificate of Conformity (CoC) Scheme for clearance of individual export consignment (voluntary activity). In this scheme exporter request for Certificate of Conformity (CoC) against the requirements of exporting country for the individual consignment of product. This scheme help them exporter for clearance of quality parameter.