Label rules › Pakistan

Pakistan label requirements for food packaging

Food made in Pakistan is labelled under the PSQCA standard PS 1485 and the rules of each province’s food authority, the largest being the Punjab Food Authority. Imported food also follows the Import Policy Order 2022 of the Ministry of Commerce. Labels are in English and Urdu. Here is what goes on the pack, and how to lay it out.

Checked: 25 October 2026

Mandatory items

Every food label: PS 1485

PS 1485, the Pakistan Standard for the labelling of prepackaged foods (PSQCA, built on the Codex general standard), lists the items: the name of the food, the ingredients in descending order of weight with allergens declared, the net contents in metric units, the name and address of the maker, packer or importer, the country of origin, the batch or lot number, the manufacture and expiry dates with storage conditions, and directions for use where they are needed. Food under a compulsory Pakistan Standard also carries the PS mark with its licence number.

A nutrition table is expected on most prepackaged food, and always where the pack makes a nutrition or health claim. Pakistan generally takes the US FDA format as its guide for the table.

Imported food: the Import Policy Order 2022

The Import Policy Order 2022 (S.R.O. 545(I)/2022) carries on the rules first set by S.R.O. 237 of 2019: the ingredients and details such as nutrition facts and directions for use are printed in Urdu and English on the consumer pack, and the pack carries the logo of its halal certification body, a certifier accredited by a member of IHAF or SMIIC.

The label is printed on the pack at the factory. A sticker, overprint, stamp or scratched-out label is not accepted. Imports also need a set share of their shelf life left on arrival (two-thirds in the 2019 rule; recent guides differ), so print the dates where they are easy to find.

Punjab and the provincial food authorities

Food sold in Punjab is registered with the Punjab Food Authority under the Punjab Pure Food Regulations 2018; once registered, the label carries the PFA logo. The PFA accepts labels in Urdu and English only and has seized stock labelled in other languages. Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan have food authorities of their own with similar rules; check where the product will be sold.

Setting the Urdu

Urdu reads right to left in Nastaliq, the hanging calligraphic style Pakistani shoppers expect; Naskh looks foreign on a food pack. Most designers and print shops set the Urdu in InPage, or in Illustrator with a Nastaliq face such as Jameel Noori Nastaleeq or Noto Nastaliq Urdu, and outline it before print. Give Nastaliq more line height than English: its words climb and drop diagonally.

Keep the Urdu and the English panels apart, each reading its own way, and have the client’s translator approve the Urdu proof: one missing dot makes another word.

Laying it out in Drint

1. In the studio, click Insert → Product label and choose the market Pakistan and the goods group.
2. Paste the client’s Urdu, and English beside it — Drint sets the Urdu right to left in joined letters, and does not translate.
3. Choose printed on the pack (the only way for imported food), and tick the frames for the halal certifier’s logo, the PFA logo and the PS mark — drop their official files in, never redrawn.
4. For a brand name in Nastaliq, pick an Urdu font (Noto Nastaliq Urdu, Gulzar) from the font list’s Urdu group.
5. Check in Export lists the items still missing; export the CMYK PDF/X-4 with the die on its own layer.

Lay out the label in Drint

Questions

A summary written to design packs, not legal advice. Rules differ by province and by product; check the current texts and the product’s registration with your importer, PSQCA or the provincial food authority before printing.