ABU DHABI // A federal consumer regulator has been urged to set and enforce more standards for food and other products to protect public health and safety.
A report by a Federal National Council committee found that for 200,000 types of products, the Emirates Authority for Standardisation and Metrology, Esma, had only 6,500 standards, of which 600 were compulsory. Three hundred were food standards and the rest applied to gas cylinders and domestic electrical appliances.
The report found that in the first quarter of 2012 more than 25 cases of eczema were reported to the Dubai Health Authority as a result of clothing that did not comply with safety standards.
A number of cosmetics and weight-loss remedies were also for sale despite not being registered with the Ministry of Health, leading to an increase in carcinogens of 20 per cent in 2012.
Food ingredient quantities were unmonitored in some cases, mostly in children’s food, which had large amounts of fat and other substances, including artificial flavouring agents. These led to an increase in child obesity of 40 per cent and Type 2 diabetes of 19 per cent, based on a 2012 study.
In the past three years, there have been 88 deaths and 656 injuries caused by counterfeit car tyres, and the spread of non-compliant fizzy drinks and electrical appliances.
The FNC committee spent two years analysing the authority’s performance, and its report was read to the full council in the presence of Dr Rashid bin Fahad, Esma’s chairman.
“The authority was built more than 13 years ago,” Dr Sheikh Al Owais (Sharjah) said. “I want to be reassured that all standards for health and safety have now finished, particularly regarding those that can cause cancer.
“I just want to be reassured that the things we use daily do not have cancer agents.”
Members noted that the public had little awareness of the dangers of non-standard goods, and that the authority had failed to unify standards, thus confusing consumers.
Dr bin Fahad responded to criticism that his authority had not cooperated with the committee preparing the report, and assured members that Esma had introduced 3,000 additional standards to the 6,500 the committee reported, and were working on improving standards. He said he could not agree with many of the points raised by the report.
He said the authority worked hard to set specific regulations on vehicles, school buses, car tyres, electrical appliances, plastic bags and oils, among other things.
When it came to food, Dr bin Fahad said only 3 per cent of 10 million tonnes of imported food had to be destroyed.
“This shows that importers know that the UAE has a well-organised market,” he said.
Ali Al Nuaimi (Ajman) asked the minister to reassure the FNC that all federal and local entities followed the standards set by Esma.
The minister said they had standards that needed to be followed, but there was always a possibility of breaches.
“I cannot say all, there are some that are smuggled in, some that go off in storage or transport, like food,” he said. “We continuously sweep stores to check on goods.”
He said the authority was working on storage and transport standards for food, and a federal law on food safety would be drafted soon to regulate the market further. He said Esma’s current plan was to play a bigger role in monitoring clothing and children’s food.
Noura Al Kaabi (Abu Dhabi) stressed the need for the authority to make use of social media and interact with consumers, informing them immediately of product recalls and what symbols to look for on products.
Dr bin Fahad said it was the best recommendation made all day.
Other recommendations called for a specific time frame to be set to unify standards for all products, a unified database of all banned goods which would be used at ports, and awareness of the dangers of counterfeit products.
osalem@thenational.ae