Ministry destroys 11 cargoes of unfit products
The Ministry of Environment’s agricultural quarantine section has confiscated and destroyed some 11 cargoes of imported products weighing about 40.18 tonnes as they were found to be infested with various bugs.
It was also announced yesterday that the Ministry had recently inspected and tested a total of 5,664 agriculture cargoes weighing 77,219.6 tonnes, including plants and products.
Some 19 cargoes of 440 tonnes of various exported or re-exported agricultural items were issued plant health certificates by the ministry.
The ministry abides by procedures to implement Law No 24 of 2005 and its executive regulations regarding agricultural quarantine to protect the country’s plant life and prevent any potential infestation from imported plants.
Accordingly, all plants and agricultural products that enter the country are subject to quarantine to pass necessary checks and tests.
Qatar has stepped up vigil on food safety, especially with the onset of Ramadan.
Earlier this week, the Consumer Protection Department (CPD) at the Doha Municipality charged three butcheries in Al Wakrah with selling subsidised Australian meat at higher prices. Their modus operandi was to label the product as Arab and Syrian meat and sell it it higher prices.
The fraud was noticed during an inspection campaign. CPD assistant director Yousif al-Siwaidi said that inspectors ensured proper labelling like the country of origin, ingredients and prices.
He said the CPD, in co-ordination with the health monitoring section, had planned special campaigns which focused mainly on the prices and quality of food materials during Ramadan.
Also during the week a major storehouse for food products was closed down by authorities for manipulating expiry dates. The storehouse, located at Industrial Area Street 2, was closed during routine inspection by the authorities.
Inspectors from the Department of Consumer Protection at the Ministry of Economy and Commerce became suspicious of some food products as the original expiry dates seemed to be tampered with.
The inspectors took samples and sent them to the forensic laboratory of the Ministry of Interior, which confirmed the manipulation of expiry dates.
The act constitutes violation of Article 7 of Law No 8 of 2008 regarding consumer protection. It is also deemed a legal violation that poses risks to public health and undermines the well-being of consumers.
