JEDDAH, 3 June 2007 — Inspectors from the Ministry of Commerce and Industry have seized and destroyed more than four million packets of foodstuffs that were unfit for human consumption in Jeddah lately. These included 170 tons of frozen meat, rice and other food items.
The officials also seized over 700,000 packets of detergents and cosmetic toiletries of dubious origin in addition to 2,300 fake branded electronic devices, including blenders and electric irons.
The inspections were conducted in collaboration with municipal officials and police, who inspected 2,825 shops, including 250 jewelry shops, 65 factories, 128 warehouses, 24 cold storages, 60 medical shops, 62 real estate offices, 46 general service offices, 125 spareparts shops, 85 puncture repair shops, 80 bakeries, 130 discount sale shops, 75 petrol filling stations and 35 fast food outlets.
About 2,000 tires of suspicious origin discovered at puncture shops were also destroyed. Violators will be asked to pay fines. If caught violating again, their shops will be closed and licenses suspended.
The continuous inspections and tough actions are aimed at guaranteeing the safety and health of the public, according to an official of the ministry’s Jeddah branch.
The inspection team comprised Ahmad Maabar, head of the commercial control committee of the Commerce Ministry, Abdullah Al-Sufyani and Abdullah Al-Mazmuni, who are also members of the same committee, and Daifallah Al-Khodaidi from the Jeddah Municipality.
The committee had received several reports that spurious goods or devices with altered countries of manufacture were stored in some warehouses.
According to a reliable source at the commerce ministry’s branch in Jeddah, the inspections are part of a continuous process as several unscrupulous businessmen were engaged in the manufacturing and distribution of spurious articles in the region.
The source also stressed the need for the public to cooperate with the officials to weed out antisocial activities.
