KUWAIT: The
Ministry of Commerce and Industry (MoCI) banned the importation of cancerogenic
thermosetting containers for containing asbestos after confirming that those
containers are harmful to human's health. The ministry has started an
inspection campaign on different stores around Kuwait for over a month without
sanctions, while sanctions will be applied on violators starting from tomorrow.
"After we received the results of tests made on the thermosetting
containers, which showed it contains harmful substances, the ban is being
applied," inspector Jaleel Jawhar from the Customer Protection Center of
MoCI told the Kuwait Times yesterday.

"The
beginning of our campaign was to spread awareness among store owners. Our
inspectors were only confiscating the containers without issuing fines for the
stores as the owners did not know (about the ban). Thus, from the first day of
2019, they will be sanctioned in addition to confiscating the products, and the
sanction may reach to shutting the store down," he added.

Banned containers

How to know which
thermosetting containers are banned? "The consumer may easily find out the
harmful container from a 'black dot' inside the container on the bottom of the
glass material. There are different kinds of thermosetting containers in the
market, which are mostly made in the same factory located in a an Asian
country. It is a cheap quality container and is also sold for a cheap
price," Jawhar explained.

The inspectors go
on inspection tours in different areas. "We basically check the products
sold in the local market, but sometimes we may miss a store. So we also depend
on the cooperation of consumers to report any case of selling the banned
thermosetting containers," he pointed out.

Other harmful
materials were found in the market. "The Public Authority for Food and
Nutrition, which is in charge of ensuring the safety of food, had discovered
harmful materials used widely in Kuwait. Those material are the plastic bowls
and boxes in which the chickpea and Bajela (broad bean) are served. Now, shops
are selling those in high quality plastic boxes, which is why they increased
their price. The old plastic bowls contained harmful substances affecting
people's health," concluded Jawhar.