Islamabad High Court Bans Substandard Food Packaging Sacks, Orders Nationwide Crackdown Over Cancer Risk

The Islamabad High Court has banned the use of substandard polypropylene woven sacks for packaging food items, warning that the reuse of cement bags for flour and other edible products poses serious health risks, including cancer. In a detailed written judgment, Justice Azam Khan directed the Pakistan Standards and Quality Control Authority to initiate a nationwide enforcement campaign within 30 days to curb the production and circulation of non-compliant food packaging materials.

The court ordered the PSQCA to identify, seize, and begin penal proceedings against manufacturers, distributors, warehouses, and transporters involved in the production, storage, sale, or transportation of polypropylene woven sacks intended for food packaging that do not carry the mandatory PS Mark under PS: 3128 standards. The ruling also covers kraft paper cement sacks that fail to meet PS: 4877 standards, with specific emphasis on preventing cement bags from being reused in the food supply chain.

The judgment clarified that enforcement must target the product itself, regardless of the business license status of the end-user, expanding regulatory oversight across the entire supply chain. The federal Ministry of Food and all four provincial governments have been directed to coordinate implementation, with Chief Secretaries and provincial Food Authorities instructed to ensure strict compliance in their respective jurisdictions.

The court further stressed that enforcement actions should go beyond financial penalties. Authorities have been ordered to register criminal cases, make arrests, and conduct raids on factories and warehouses producing or storing substandard sacks. The PSQCA and the Ministry of Food must submit a comprehensive compliance report to the court within 90 days, detailing progress on enforcement measures and regulatory action taken to eliminate hazardous food packaging practices in Pakistan.