THE Government Analyst – Food and Drug Department, in collaboration with the Guyana Revenue Authority’s Customs Department, has refused entry to 1700 cases of Dost sardine, imported from the People’s Republic of China.In a statement to the media on Friday, Director of the Government Analyst – Food and Drug Department, Marlan Cole, said samples of the sardine, retrieved by inspectors of the department for examination on November 29, 2016, were
discovered to have been manufactured on August 1, 2014, and not on June 1, 2016, as stated on the labels.

Additionally, the 48 tins, each containing 200 grams of sardines, were rusting, and the “Free Sale/Health Certificate from China’s FDA was inconsistent with those usually presented to the Department”. Moreover, “the exact name and address of the manufacturer were not stated on the labels.”

The absence of the manufacturer’s name and address violates Regulation 18 of the Food and Drug Regulations; and accordingly, the Director of the Food and Drug Department refused the product entry.

“Based on the Inspector’s report, and according to the Laws of Guyana, Food and Drug Act Chapter 34:03 Section 22 (ll) and the Food and Drug Regulation 1977 Regulation l’1, consent to grant entry of the product into the country for consumers to use was not granted, and the Head of the Customs Department and the importer were officially notified, as prescribed for in the law,” the statement said.

As a result, the Food and Drug Department will now furnish to the Food and Drug Agency in China a copy of the inconsistent Free Sale Certificate which was used to facilitate the shipment to Guyana.
“In addition, the name and address of the exporter and the importer will be provided in an attempt to prevent future shipment of substandard foods being exported to Guyana from China,” the statement said.

The Director of the Food and Drug Dept. is cautioning consumers to pay close attention to labels for dates, addresses, country of origin and instruction for storage, among other things. The language must be in English and the condition of containers when purchasing food items must at all times be proper.

“The Department will continue to work with all stakeholders to ensure substandard items of foods, drugs, cosmetics and medical devices are prevented from being released on our local market”, the statement said.