“It (Dettol) has failed a bacterial
efficacy test. Once you have a product that does not kill 99.9 percent it
exposes you to whatever various forms of infection you may get,” said Madzivhe.
(South African) Consumers have been warned
not to purchase the product that has been ordered to be taken off the shelves
across the country soon. The product is imported from the United Kingdom and it
is not registered with the local regulator. Its manufactures don’t have
permission to sell the product in South Africa or Namibia.
What is even more worrying is that Dettol
is not the only detergent that has been taken off the shelves. Domestos,
produced by Unilever, has also been recalled.
“It (Domestos) does not meet our
administrative regulatory requirements and it cannot be sold, even though
technically it may not pose any safety or health risk to the consumers,"
said Madzivhe.
The South African Regulator (National
Regulation for Compulsory Specifications) has confiscated over 4000 bottles of
Dettol disinfectant liquid and they will be destroyed.
The regulator has urged consumers to alert
the NRCS of shops that are still selling the recalled products.
The question is now to Namibian consumers:
Who is protecting our rights?
The answer would seem to be that this
should be the Namibia Standards Institution.
What is the Namibia Standards Institution?
The Namibian Standards Institution (NSI) is
established in terms of the Standards Act 18, of 2005. The NSI is governed by
the Namibian Standards Council (NSC), which was inaugurated by the Hon.
Minister of Trade Dr. Hage Geingob on the 17th of February, 2011. The NSC
provides strategic leadership to the NSI and consists of eight members, who are
all non-executive, independent Directors, while the CEO serves as an ex officio
member of the NSC.
According to the NSI, the expected results
of the NSI Programme are an established and functional national standards body
in Namibia, capable of:
·
developing, adopting and
applying standards;
·
providing accurate measurement
traceability to the international standards (SI) through the metrology
division;
·
providing reliable testing
especially for food such as fish and fishery products including shellfish, beef
and agro-products and rendering food safety technical support to the
aquaculture, fishing and other industries through regular tests conducted at
the NSI Biotoxins and Microbiology laboratories at Walvis Bay and through NSI
Inspection and Certification.
Regardless of who is OFFICIALLY responsible
for protection the consumer in this regard, you the consumer can be assured
that the Consumer News Magazine Namibia will
keep you informed of the news you need to know.
