Pakistan’s decision in May 2025 to establish the National Agri-Trade and Food Safety Authority (NAFSA) was announced as a milestone in aligning the country’s agriculture and food systems with global requirements. The new body was meant to meet obligations under the WTO’s Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) Agreement, the International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC), Codex Alimentarius Commission (human health) and the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH).

In the process, however, the government dismantled the Department of Plant Protection (DPP) and the Animal Quarantine Department (AQD)—institutions that, despite limitations, had built decades of technical expertise. Their replacement by NAFSA raises a fundamental question: has Pakistan taken a step forward in reform, or backward into regression?

At the centre of concern lies the way NAFSA has been structured. Instead of strengthening technical capacity, the authority has been designed with bureaucratic dominance. Its Board is packed with eleven federal/provincial secretaries/additional secretaries, and senior posts, including that of Director General, are reserved for non-technical officers.

For an institution mandated to ensure scientific credibility in plant health, animal health and food safety, this arrangement undermines both competence and confidence. Decisions that ought to be evidence-based........

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