A large quantity of unregistered products was confiscated by Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) officials from four supermarkets during a swoop at Osu in Accra yesterday.
All labelled in Chinese, the items—including pharmaceutical drugs, tobacco and food consumables—were seized at Jia Hua Agricultural Trade Company, Panda Mart, Downwind Sail, and Hauang Jia YI Limited supermarkets.
The managers of these facilities are to report to the Authority on Monday for further engagement regarding administrative fines for flouting the law on the sale of unregistered goods.
During the exercise, some salespersons were spotted hiding mostly tobacco products from the team, while managers were seen pleading for leniency.
Addressing journalists after the exercise, Mr James Sarpong Aboagye of the Surveillance and Monitoring Unit of the FDA, said the swoop was conducted to ensure public safety and compliance with FDA regulations.
He stated that such practices contravened the Public Health Act and the labelling guide (LI 1541), which requires all products imported into the country to be in English.
Mr Aboagye explained that products imported into the country should be labelled in English to allow for the identification of manufacturers, addresses, countries of origin, and expiration dates, among other details, to guide the consumer.
He noted that pharmaceutical drugs were not allowed in supermarkets, as they were supposed to be sold exclusively at pharmacies.
Mr Aboagye mentioned that the exercise would continue in Accra and be replicated in other places in the regions to ensure public safety.
He said public safety is a shared responsibility and called on the public to partner with the FDA by reporting such practices to the Authority for immediate action.
He assured the public of the FDA’s determination to promote public safety in the country and advised importers to register their products and ensure compliance with FDA laws.
He urged the public not to purchase such products.
“The safety of such products cannot be guaranteed. It behoves us to ensure safety at all times by making sure such products are registered with the FDA,” he added.
The Head of Investigations at the FDA, Mr Matthew Nkum, stated that most of these products were smuggled into the country, noting that they were concealed in containers.
He explained that when such products find their way into the market, the surveillance team of the FDA followed up, and they are subsequently confiscated.
Mr Nkum said that culprits would be surcharged to pay administrative fines and could even be prosecuted for flouting the laws.
BY ANITA NYARKO-YIRENKYI