Firms warned of labels on goods

The National Business

By MARTHA DERUAGE
BusinessES and retail importers will get visits from health inspectors if they continue to sell and import non-English labeled food and drinks, says Health Secretary Pascoe Kase, pictured.
Kase said on Friday businesses should not be importing these non-English-labeled goods and should not have it on shelves.
“The National Department of Health will be sending out health inspectors to businesshouses or import retailers who were reported to be importing or selling food and drinks written in foreign language,” he said.
“It is time to say enough is enough and the practice of the selling of goods in foreign language must be stopped.”
According to the Independent Consumer and Competition Commission, penalties include a fine
of K100,000 or a two-year jail term.
The main key aspects the goods must have include:

  • The list of ingredients should be in English so that consumers can make informed decisions on whether the content is something that they could consume;
  • The name of the packer or distributor and address should be in English;
  • The country of origin should be in English; and
  • The net weight of the product needs to be in English.

“We want the people of Papua New Guinea to buy food that is written in English,” Kase said.
He is asking the general public to be vigilant and report any shops selling foreign-language-written goods.
Kase said the law was already in place, warnings had been issued and retail importers and businesshouses should stop selling those goods.