H.E. Dr. Mohammed bin Ahmed Al Kanhal, Chief Executive Officer of SFDA emphasized the importance of giving due care in inspection of imported food at SFDA Direct Clearance Offices at the points of entry, particularly fish shipments arriving from the Arabian Gulf, to ensure that they are not contaminated with human remains & microbes. This comes as a precautionary action, as some Gulf States drain untreated sewage and waste into the sea. Dr. Al Kanhal highlighted the high nutritional value of fish and the importance of checking the physical features of fish and sending samples of same to central laboratories, by inspectors.

 At the same time, Dr. Al Kanhal called for imposing severe penalties on fake drug merchants due to the harmful effects of such drugs, similar to narcotics effects, on human beings. Moreover, these counterfeited  drugs put heavy financial and remediation burdens on the Health Sector. Moreover, the penalty of trading in fake drugs is much lighter than the penalty of drug trafficking, despite their damage similarity  to human beings. This encourages ill persons to trade in fake drugs as their penalty is more safe than the penalty of death for drug traffickers.

 This statement was released during Dr. Al Kanhal, VPs and Assistants, visit to Direct Clearance Offices and Customs Departments at Salwa & Batha points of entry, yesterday, Sunday, in an effort to enhance the integration of SFDA & Customs procedures and processes, to discuss the impact of GCC Customs Union, the impact of using a single point of entry for food transport, including food, drug, medical devices & products and laboratory solutions.

 SFDA delegation was headed by Dr. Al Kanhal, accompanied by Food Sector VP Dr. Ibrahim Al Mehaizie, Drug Sector VP. Dr. Saleh Bawazir, Medical Devices & Products VP, Dr. Saleh Altayar, CEO Assistant for Planning & IT, Dr. Abdullah Almasoud, Executive Director for Projects & Maintenance, Dr. Khaled Almershid, Executive Director of Surveillance of Imported Food, Mr. Abdullah Alrwaitie, Executive Director for Human Resources, Executive Director for Branches, Engineer Abdullah Alrasheed and Executive Director for Public Relation & Information, Mr. Mazin Al Ismail.

It worth mentioning that SFDA is in the process of upgrading their control laboratories and clearance offices by furnishing them with the necessary equipment and human resources and strengthening their  presence at all land, sea and air points of entry, in order to ensure safety of food, safety and efficacy of drugs and efficiency of medical devices and products

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