By ABDULKADIR KHALIF
Friday May 17, 2024
Substandard flour dumped at Mogadishu port, Somalia on May 15, 2024. PHOTO | NMG
Somali government intercepted an unknown value of substandard flour dumped at Mogadishu port on Wednesday.
The seized consignment in several containers detained at the port did not meet conformity test, according to the Somali Bureau of Standards (Sobs).
The Sobs announced the seizure, stating that its section in-charge of conformity and implementation, sized the goods, having found them wet, containing high level of moisture that renders them unfit for consumption.
The national quality assurance agency is mandated to ensure quality product control and the safety of consumers.
The agency, responsible for standardisation, metrology, conformity assessment activities, among others, is in the process of establishing control positions at ports, airports and other entry points in the country.
In August 2023, Sobs asked importers to acquire certificates of conformity before bringing goods into the country’s territory, part of a move to abide by global quality requirements for trade.
“Companies or individuals involved in imports business will from now on be required to attach proof of conformity,” Sobs demanded in memo circulated in August 2023.
The agency did not mention neither the importers nor the origin of the goods.