CS Foundation : English and Business Communication - December 2007

The increasingly cheaper imported chocolates, confectioneries and nibbles may have heartened consumers. However, there is reason for concern. Buyers may never know if these value–for–money products landed in the country through the official customs channel or in a passenger’s personal baggage. In other words, there is no way to find out whether the products have passed the mandatory safety tests for adulteration.

Says A K Prasad, Commissioner Customs (Imports), Mumbai, "Normally, products that come through passenger baggage don’t go through these checks. Suppose someone carries a boxful of items from Singapore. Those things, you cannot check."

It is not as if smuggled items are a new phenomenon. Besides, since the gradual easing of import norms (edible items do not require an import licence), a wider variety of products have started entering the country. Concurrently, though, small shops stocking supposedly imported and cheaper products have also mushroomed all over the place. Such shops sell a chunk of their products at surprisingly cheap rates – obviously evading the high 30–50% duty imposed on items such as cooked chocolates, malted milk products and ginger bread, in addition to the 16% countervailing duty. In the process, such products bypass safety tests too. It is also "difficult to make out duplicates," says Prasad.

Although this is not a sure proof of authenticity, consumers can look for the manufacturer and importer’s names on the label; this is a compulsory requirement.

If products are imported through the proper channel, their samples are sent for testing to Central and State laboratories identified by the Prevention of Food Adulteration (PFA) department under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. Says a source in the PFA, "Once a product enters the market, it is treated on the same plank as a local product. All products come under the purview of the PFA Act and Rules."

However, once a product gets the go–ahead and if the supplier, brand and importer remain the same, no tests are conducted on future imports. But, S P Adeshara, Commissioner at Gujarat’s Food and Drug Control Administration says, "Sometimes they are subjected to random test." That’s because, time and again, State governments have been instructed to do so, says the PFA source.

In addition, any consumer who suspects the quality of a product can also get it tested. Says Adeshara, “There is a provision in the PFA Act, which empowers private purchasers and customers to test such products in governmnt approved laboratories.”

"In Mumbai, for instance", says P R Uttarwar, Joint Commissioner at Maharashtra Food & Drugs Administration, "suspect products can be tested at the BMC laboratory in Dadar and the State government lab in Vashi. If an item is found to be adulterated, the consumer must give details of the results to BMC. The corporation’s food inspectors will visit the site. Action can be taken against the retailer and the supplier under the PFA Act."