Federal Minister for Science and Technology Agha Hassan Baloch Friday expressed his resolve to make Pakistan Halal Authority (PHA) a self-sustained organization in a time period of one year. Chairing the fourth Board of Governors meeting in the ministry, the federal minister said that PHA will soon be able to meet all its expenditures including salaries itself without taking a single rupee from the government. During the meeting, the Board of Governors accorded the approval for establishment of Pakistan Halal Authority’s Regional Offices at provincial headquarters I.e. Karachi, Lahore, Peshawar and Quetta. The board of governors also approved the opening of Pakistan Halal Authority’s offices at all major seaports of the country I.e. Karachi Port Trust ( KPT), Port Qasim Authority ( PQA) and Gwadar Port Authority (GPA) Balochistan. The board of governors also authorized the recruitment process through NTS with strict compliance to provincial quota allocation. On direction of Federal Minister Agha Hassan Baloch, PHA proposed a toll free number facility #0800-halal for quick communication with consumers and companies. The federal minister has said that along with provision of desired information this toll free number will help address the grievances of the consumers. The government has also approved PHA business rules and certification marks regulation which is a milestone achieved by PHA. PHA is the very first organization under the administrative control of MoST which has developed business rules to run its operations. After approval of business rules, PHA can regulate halal products and services as per international practices by implementing a single Pakistan Halal logo as a mark of halal assurance. Halal certification marks are a key step for ease of doing business and single window operation and it will also provide registration and recognition of local/foreign Halal certification bodies ( HCB’s). Speaking on the occasion, Agha Hassan Baloch reiterated that the regional and port offices of PHA will help regulate halal products and services as per international practices and promote the halal sector.