The Senate has passed the National Agri Trade and Food Safety Authority Bill 2025, paving the way for the creation of a new federal body to regulate agricultural trade standards and food safety across Pakistan.<\/p>\n
The bill was approved during a Senate session chaired by Presiding Officer Shahadat Awan, while Federal Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar formally presented it before the House. The minister also laid before the Senate the annual and four-year oversight reports relating to policy monitoring and implementation.<\/p>\n
Tarar informed lawmakers that the bill was originally introduced on November 14 by Senator Rana Tanveer Hussain, but objections were raised at the last minute. \u201cAll the disputed amendments have now been withdrawn,\u201d he said. He assured that no employee of any existing institution would be terminated due to the structural changes. \u201cThose affected will be shifted to the surplus pool,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
During the session, Senator Asad Qasim submitted a calling-attention notice regarding the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) sending taxpayers text messages about their bank balances and financial transactions.<\/p>\n
He questioned how such sensitive financial information was being communicated directly to individuals. \u201cPeople don\u2019t even disclose their bank balances to their spouses. As a taxpayer, I have a right to privacy,\u201d he told the House, stressing that such details should not be shared via SMS.<\/p>\n
Responding to the concerns, Federal Minister Dr. Tariq Fazal Chaudhry clarified that the messages were sent only to the relevant taxpayers and that the FBR was legally empowered to do so under existing laws.<\/p>\n
Following the debate, the chair referred the matter to the Senate Standing Committee on Finance and Revenue for further review.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Senate has passed the National Agri Trade and Food Safety Authority Bill 2025, paving the way for the creation of a new federal body to regulate agricultural trade standards and food safety across Pakistan. The bill was approved during a Senate session chaired by Presiding Officer Shahadat Awan, while Federal Law Minister Azam Nazeer […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":69341,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30,16],"tags":[103],"ppma_author":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-69340","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-latest","8":"category-pakistan","9":"tag-top-stories"},"yoast_head":"\n