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Tuna importer maintains product’s labelling is within the law

Mar 23, 2017 News

The importer of ‘Buiwick’ Tuna has come forward to defend the product against a warning by the Government Analyst-Food and Drug Department (GA-FDD) that the product should be avoided by consumers for a number of reasons.
According to the importer, Goolmohamad Rahaman of G. Bacchus Enterprise, there is no reason why the GA-FDD should reject the goods he imported simply because the country of origin is printed on the labels of his tuna cans.
When Kaieteur News observed a can of the ‘Buiwick’ Tuna, it states that the manufactured good is a “Product of P.R.C”. According to Rahaman, P.R.C is the abbreviation for “People’s Republic of China.”
Additionally, the importer provided this newspaper with a certificate of origin dated January 11, 2017, showing that the product has been certified by the People’s Republic of China. The certificate also states that the exporter of the product is ‘Tropical Food Manufacturing (Ningbo) Co. Ltd., 78 Binjiang Zhilu, Xiaogang, Ningbo, China.’
It was also declared by the exporter that all the goods were produced in China, and that they comply with the Rules of Origin of the People’s Republic of China. Tropical Food Manufacturing is also named as the manufacturer of the product based on the information given on the label of the can.
According to Rahaman, although the Chinese company would have produced the product, he bought the goods from Central International Co. LLC located in the United States of America.
Rahaman said that previously his company sold ‘Brunswick” tuna, but switched brands after he saw the ‘Buiwick’ Tuna in the US and decided to import it since it would have been more affordable to the Guyanese people. The man believes that his shipment was refused because another local business sells the “Brunswick” brand of Tuna and is influencing the process in its favour, out of fear of competition from a cheaper product.
The businessman said he found it suspicious that his shipment was stamped to be released on March 3, 2017 and was refused entry on the same day.
After observing the label and packaging of the two products this newspaper noticed glaring similarities, which might have lead to the conclusion by the GA-FDD that the ‘Buiwick’ brand is ‘bogus’.
As is common with any product manufactured in China, the label would read plainly “Made in China” regardless of the brand of product. However, as stated before the label for the ‘Buiwick’ brand reads “Product of P.R.C”.
In addition, the two labels bear a striking resemblance. The colour scheme is similar as well as the placement and types of images used. One notable difference is in the packaging, whereby the ‘Brunswick” Tuna has to be opened using an opener.
However, the ‘Buiwick’ can has a ring which has to be lifted and peeled backwards in order to open the can. Another difference has to do with the style and size of font used.
The GA-FDD said that the label was deemed false, misleading and deceptive based on the Food and Drug Act Chapter 34:03. The department said that the label was found to be inadequate based on the Food and Drug Regulation of 1977, Regulation 18 Part (2) (a) clause (iii) – Labels.
Director of GA-FDD Marlan Cole said that his agency will be notifying the regulatory agency of the People’s Republic of China on the findings and action, because official documentation with attestation was used to facilitate the shipment of falsely labelled tuna into Guyana.

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