KUWAIT: TheMinistry of Commerce and Industry (MoCI) banned the importation of cancerogenicthermosetting containers for containing asbestos after confirming that thosecontainers are harmful to human's health. The ministry has started aninspection campaign on different stores around Kuwait for over a month withoutsanctions, while sanctions will be applied on violators starting from tomorrow."After we received the results of tests made on the thermosettingcontainers, which showed it contains harmful substances, the ban is beingapplied," inspector Jaleel Jawhar from the Customer Protection Center ofMoCI told the Kuwait Times yesterday.
"Thebeginning of our campaign was to spread awareness among store owners. Ourinspectors were only confiscating the containers without issuing fines for thestores as the owners did not know (about the ban). Thus, from the first day of2019, they will be sanctioned in addition to confiscating the products, and thesanction may reach to shutting the store down," he added.
Banned containers
How to know whichthermosetting containers are banned? "The consumer may easily find out theharmful container from a 'black dot' inside the container on the bottom of theglass material. There are different kinds of thermosetting containers in themarket, which are mostly made in the same factory located in a an Asiancountry. It is a cheap quality container and is also sold for a cheapprice," Jawhar explained.
The inspectors goon inspection tours in different areas. "We basically check the productssold in the local market, but sometimes we may miss a store. So we also dependon the cooperation of consumers to report any case of selling the bannedthermosetting containers," he pointed out.
Other harmfulmaterials were found in the market. "The Public Authority for Food andNutrition, which is in charge of ensuring the safety of food, had discoveredharmful materials used widely in Kuwait. Those material are the plastic bowlsand boxes in which the chickpea and Bajela (broad bean) are served. Now, shopsare selling those in high quality plastic boxes, which is why they increasedtheir price. The old plastic bowls contained harmful substances affectingpeople's health," concluded Jawhar.