The Guyana National Bureau of Standards (GNBS) says it found several brands of matches and cigarettes being sold to the public that are in breach of their respective standards.
In a press release the GNBS said based on reports its inspectors conducted surveillance at 800 businesses along the East Coast and East Bank seized 141 boxes of Five Star Matches, 700 boxes Comet Matches and 280 boxes of Volcano brand safety matches since they failed to comply with the National Standard “Specification for safety matches” GYS28:2006.
In addition 6 cartons, 7 packets and sticks of Silver Elephant cigarettes, 61 cartons and 11 packets of GT Smart and 5 packets of BT Cigarettes were seized since they were in breach of the labelling requirements found in the standard Labelling of Cigarettes GYS-3:2008.
The Bureau said despite numerous efforts to remove commodities in breach of its standards from the market it is concerned that importers and dealers continue to import and sell non-complying safety matches and cigarettes that can have an adverse impact on consumers’ health and safety. In some cases the labels of safety matches seized lacked key information such as the name and address of the manufacturer, importer or distributor, the country of origin and cautionary statements such as “Keep out of the reach of children.”
As regard the cigarettes, the GNBS said some of the brands seized did not have key information such as the name and address of the manufacturers. Further, the GNBS said previous tests conducted on some of the brands of matches failed to meet inspection and test requirements.
The GNBS advises consumers not to buy the brands of cigarettes and matches found to be in contravention of its safety requirements. It also urges distributors, retailers and shopkeepers to stop selling the said brands as they will be seized from sale outlets.
