By Bosco Bush
South Sudan National Bureau of Standards (SSNBS) impounded and disposed of at least 150 tons of substandard wheat flour at the Nimule border checkpoint on Thursday.
The flour loaded fully in six trucks transited to South Sudan from Turkey, were confiscated for having the same manufacturing and expiration dates of June 2024.
These include 1,500 bags of 50kgs and 3,000 bags of 25kgs – making a total of 4,500 bags of wheat flour.
Baratico General Trading Company Ltd, the importer acknowledges the erroneous labelling of the dates and conceded the Bureau’s classification of the goods as substandard.
Mr Hassan Ali, Operations Manager for Baratico confirmed the Company’s compliance with SSNBS’s decision to dispose of the substandard flour in Nimule border town.
“Today [Thursday], we are to demolish the wheat flour that we brought from Turkey, and they are substandard because of a labelling issue that’s an error from the Company. The Company wrote both the manufactured and expiry date as June 2024 which is expiring on the same date,” he said.
“These facts are not allowed to enter into the market. So, today we demolished them and they are six containers in total, 1,500 bags of 50kgs and 3,000 bags of 25kgs,” Ali confirmed.
Dut Jongkor, SSNBS Head of Laboratory in Nimule Station underscored the disposal activity in accordance with the legal mandate of the Bureau to protect the citizens from harmful goods, hence the dumping.
“Our role and mandate as the South Sudan National Bureau of Standard is to protect the people of South Sudan. That’s why we cannot allow these substandard goods to enter the country,” he added.
On his part, Jacob Matiop, Director of SSNBS Nimule Station echoed Jongkor sentiments emphasizing that, the disposal exercise reflects the Bureau’s dedication to protecting South Sudanese consumers by preventing the entrance of substandard goods into the market as enshrined by laws.
These efforts highlight the South Sudan National Bureau of Standards commitment to maintaining safety and quality standards for imported goods.