Friday, October 03, 2008 Gov’t to consumers: Be wary of goods being bought By Jerson O. Coronica
THE provincial offices of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and the Bureau of Food and Drugs (BFAD) have cautioned Negrenses “to be aware when buying goods, especially food items”.
DTI Provincial Director Rebecca Rascon told Sun.Star Bacolod that her office has been strictly implementing various rules on the monitoring of prices of merchandises being sold in the province, particularly in Bacolod City, as it celebrates its 70th Charter anniversary and 29th MassKara Festival.
DTI is conducting an intensified monitoring of the comings and goings of merchandises being displayed at the public plaza booths in line with the twin celebrations.
Rascon said their monitoring is a vital way of trapping illegal goods coming from other places that will be dropped to Bacolod at the height of the MassKara revelry.
“DTI has its regular monitoring; from the prices of the goods being sold to the quality of the goods and other merchandises. We are against illegal goods coming into the province. Those goods that slipped through the province without proper checking from concerned offices on what items should undergo quality check before allowing their display,” said Rascon.
“We will prevent smuggled goods from entering the province’s markets and stores. We can do this by working together. We in DTI will monitor our concerns and we are appealing to the public not to patronize illegal and smuggled goods. While it (smuggled item) is offered at lower prices, the quality is also low or poor,” she stressed.
Rascon cited the displaying of cell phone units that are faked or snatched from their real owners. She added the Pinoys’ propensity of patronizing imitation items affects the country and province’s economic growth.
BFAD, meanwhile, iterated its warning to the buying public to be responsible enough in ensuring that the items they bought are not yet expired.
The consumers are also encouraged to check valuable information of the foods being purchased such as the expiry date, ingredients, producer, and contents of the food items, especially the imported ones.
The agency is likewise advocating the ‘no buying’ of food items whose labels are written in a language that cannot be read and understood.
BFAD has also pulled out food products made from China from the stores’ shelves provincial-wide. Bags of milk-flavored candies being sold in several supermarkets and grocery stores were already confiscated for melamine testing.
“Don’t buy milk or food with milk ingredient made from China. Let us wait for the result of the lab testing that the Department of Health and BFAD head offices are conducting on samples of milk products from China before deciding on what to do. In the mean time, let us keep our distance from those products,” said BFAD-Negros regulation officer II Elizabeth Henada in an earlier Sun.Star Bacolod interview.
