Monday, 7 July 2014 00:00
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A CONSUMER authority exists to protect the public. But in Sri Lanka the connection can be downright dubious at times. The main Opposition last week revealed a highly suspicious plan to be implemented by the Consumer Affairs Authority (CAA) that could well drive up prices while providing no protection to the consumer.
Under the new measure, effective 1 August, the CAA is insisting that a range of items including shampoo, soap and toothpaste be branded with a special security stamp, driving up costs. The United National Party (UNP) has already rounded on the new gazette accusing it of providing no benefit to the consumer.
UNP MP Dr. Harsha de Silva has pointed out that the security stamp can only be obtained through suppliers especially selected by the CAA, adding that this indicated certain individuals chosen by the Government would profit from the new regulations.
The Gazette Extraordinary was published on 24 February under the Consumer Authority Act and stipulates that no products shall be manufactured, imported, distributed, transported or sold unless a security stamp obtained from the CAA is “affixed to each and every pack, container or wrapper”.
Among the products listed in the Gazette to be affixed with the stamp are soft drinks, bottled mineral water, branded edible oils, toothpaste, all types of soap and shampoo. Dr. de Silva has demanded the gazette be presented in parliament before being passed under the cover of midnight and demanded to know why illegally manufactured items such as alcohol has been exempted from the list.
The new gazette seems especially useless given the massive abuse of chemicals and other forms of poison added into rice, vegetables and fruits, and supplied to consumers around the country every single day. Horror stories of chemicals used for everything from ripening rice and fruits to keeping flies off fish are told by concerned consumers but the CAA has failed to take any meaningful steps.
Even the occasional raids carried out by the CAA in recent months, where thousands of kilos of onions, sprats, potatoes etc. have been seized, points to a hugely powerful trader lobby that is importing and selling substandard food. Yet no steps have been taken by the Government to even acknowledge the issue.
Recently, Transparency International Sri Lanka (TISL) urged the Government to take immediate action to set up an independent Food Authority with qualified personnel dedicated entirely to food control administration, in order to protect public health by reducing the risk of food-borne illnesses. Largely because, the CAA and other bodies, are ineffective in protecting the public from being poisoned.
Such an authority should work in close liaison with the Ministries of Health and Trade but should be accountable to the Cabinet of Ministers or the Head of State, they proposed.
The main defect in the food control and food safety system in Sri Lanka is its absolute inability of enforcement, although the Food Act itself recognises the imperatives of food safety as identified by the FAO and the WHO. No attempt is made to enforce the mandatory provisions.
Food Control Administration is a specialised field that has to be constantly engaged with food manufacturers, producers, administrators, and most importantly the consumers. This is the principal reason why many developed and developing countries have entrusted food control and safety to a separate institution outside the Ministry of Health whose primary task is ‘healthcare delivery’. But in Sri Lanka labels are the best the Government can do.
