The Food and Drugs Board (FDB) is collaborating with the National Security and Customs Excise and Preventive Service (CEPS) to prevent a consignment of unwholesome Burmese rice which arrived at the Tema harbour on board MV Stephanis to be sold on Ghanaian market.
The Times in its Monday edition erroneously carried a headline that officers of National Security and CEPS had defied FDB�s orders and allowed the ship to berth and discharge the consignment. But the FDB, in the press statement signed by the FDB Chief Executive, Dr Stephen K. Opuni, had explained that it had rather questioned the behaviour of the Port Health Authority who had taken a special interest in the consignment by taking a sample of the rice to the Ghana Standards Board and also allowing 15,000 bags of the weevil infested rice to be discharged during the Christmas holidays.
The statement said prior to the arrival of the consignment of 11,466 tonnes of the rice, the FDB got information about its unwholesomeness, for which reason it had been rejected by two West African neighbouring countries. It said upon arrival at Tema Port on December 7, 2009, it was noticed that there was no consignee in Ghana and the product had not been registered by the FDB. �The FDB learnt that some sample of the rice was allegedly taken from the consignment by an official of the Port Health Authority for testing at the Ghana Standards Board,� it said.
The statement said the FDB met with officials of the Port Health Authority and CEPS and informed them that there was no way the rice would be released unto the Ghanaian market since its safety and quality could not be guaranteed. It said though the FDB made its intention clear that the consignment must not be allowed entry in Ghana, information it received later indicated that the Port Health Authority had fumigated the consignment.
The statement assured the public that the offloaded rice had since been quarantined and that all steps were being taken to ensure that the consignment was put back on the ship and re-exported.
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