The Consumer Affairs Authority has said that it continues to receive complaints regarding the quality of canned fish sold in the market.
So far, domestic canned fish production in Sri Lanka has increased significantly.
However, according to the numerical data, it appears that the demand for it has decreased significantly compared to the previous years, says Mr. Nalin Fernando, Minister of Trade, Commerce and Food Safety.
This is due to the low quality of the canned fish.
Accordingly, the minister also mentioned that a quick process will be initiated through the three institutions namely the Ministry of Trade, the Ministry of Fisheries and the Consumer Affairs Authority to check the quality of canned fish products in the market.
The minister said that starting from the fish used for tinned fish to its packaging, the quality and the amount of arsenic contained in local and imported tinned fish should be properly checked.
It was also mentioned that they will submit their recommendations to the Food Safety Committee chaired by the President regarding the standard of packaged canned fish and the current system for granting licenses to import canned fish.
The Minister stated that the objective of the Ministry of Trade is always to protect the consumer. It was also mentioned that due to the delays in providing quality certificates for the food imported into Sri Lanka, the food damage caused by the food remaining in the container for a long time and the importer having to pay an additional amount as late fees and adding the cost to the product, the customer has to bear another additional cost.
The Consumer Affairs Authority was instructed to provide a numerical report to the Ministry of Trade about the total financial cost incurred in order to take further steps to mitigate the damage.
This step was taken during the discussion held at the Ministry yesterday (24) to discuss the issues related to the quality, production, and consumption of local and imported canned fish in the market.