Importers warned of legal actions over foreign labelled goods

Criminal charges have been filed against a local proprietor over the importation of foreign labelled goods for sale here and other persons engaged in this practice are being warned by authorities to desist from doing so.

The Government Analyst Food and Drug Department (GA-FDD), in a statement Saturday morning, said it has already seized 63 tins of “anglo corn beef” labelled in a foreign language and during this exercise, the Department encountered expired items on the premises the proprietor.

This proprietor has since been charged for “knowingly and deliberately” offering for sale expired and foreign labelled items.

In another instance, the Department said it has recently refused entry of containers of “Ovaltine” from Vietnam and confectionary from China because the goods were labelled in the foreign language, with no address of manufacturer and without date marks.

The Food and Drug Department is urging all consumers to be on the lookout for these goods that are not supposed to be on the local good.

Consumers are asked to carefully examine all food products before making purchases to ensure the foods are labelled in English and contain all required information such as brand name, common name, net contents, list of ingredients, storage instructions, name and address of manufacturer, country of origin, expiry and manufacture dates.

Wholesalers and retailers are also asked to follow the same guidelines to ensure the food products they are selling meets the criteria, failure to do so will result in prosecution.

The Department explained that it is essential that the goods be labelled in English so that local consumers can make informed decisions on the products they will be purchasing.