By Trudy Simpson, Staff ReporterSUPERMARKETS AND other retailers stand to have their processed or canned goods seized if they have not been given a certificate of approval from the Jamaica Bureau of Standards (JBS).
The Bureau warned yesterday that it would "withdraw all prescribed food products from the retail trade" immediately if approval was not granted.
"We're always monitoring the market. We've gotten a number of complaints from consumers (and have) enough concerns to prompt us to act," explained Norman Hall, the Bureau's Information manager yesterday.
The Bureau also warned retailers not to buy goods from distributors who could not show them a certificate of approval from the Bureau.
Among the products now under scrutiny by Bureau teams and which may be confiscated are processed meats, canned juices, sauces, syrups, jams, jellies, tomato ketchup and canned ackees.
Last November, the Bureau had seized and destroyed almost $2 million worth of canned ackees and callaloo in Yallahs, St. Thomas, stating that the 500 cases of canned ackee and 29 cases of callaloo in brine destined for the Canadian export market were seized by its agents and the Customs Department at Port Bustamante after it was found that an export company was in breach of The Processed Food Act (1959), The Standard Act, and export regulations.
Under the Processed Food Act, the Bureau is mandated to ensure that products sold in the domestic market place, follow good manufacturing practices.
"The Bureau cannot guarantee some of the products in the market place," said Mr. Hall, who added that the only way that consumers can be certain that products are safe or have met required guidelines is if they have been given the Bureau's certificate of approval.
The certificate means that the products were sampled and tested by the Bureau of Standards and were declared to be wholesome and safe for human consumption.
The Bureau also asked the public to be vigilant when buying goods in supermarkets and other retail outlets. The products must be properly labelled, must list the ingredients, manufacturer's name, address, expiry date and batch code.
On another matter, Mr. Hall said that the Bureau has so far received and were processing 40 motor vehicle instruction manuals, given for approval to the regulatory body following an agreement between the Bureau and used car dealers.
They agreed to supply The Bureau with English translations of owners manuals, including safety and health specifications of imported units following a meeting in June in which the Bureau outlined new labelling measures for them.
The JBS had told used car dealers to apply individually to the Bureau, to state their case as to how much time they would need to become compliant and why their vehicles should be allowed to be sold in Jamaica, for an interim period, without their having met basic labelling and standard requirements.
So far between 30 and 40 dealers have come in, Mr. Hall said.
The Bureau said following this it will publish an approved list of vehicles so that consumers can be guided as to which models have met labelling requirements.
The meeting between the Bureau and the dealers followed growing consumer complaints about used car dealers.
Consumers had complained that they could not understand instruction manuals because they were not written in English and stated that car models were often older than the year stated by car dealers.
