CEPS destroys unwholesome goods

Accra, Sept. 13, GNA - The Customs, Excise and Preventive Service (CEPS) on Thursday destroyed assorted items worth about 1.3 billion cedis (130,000 GH cedis) deemed not to conform to standards. The items, which consisted of pirated compact disc, pornographic films and materials, pharmaceuticals, cigarettes and aphrodisiacs, were destroyed at the Oblogo Landfill site in Accra. The items were either smuggled into the country or had violated rules on labelling and thus seized by CEPS officials during routine checks at the frontiers.

The total tax element that would have accrued to government, according to CEPS, stood at 1.2 billion cedis (120,000 GH cedis). Officials of the Food and Drugs Board (FDB), Environmental Protection Agency, British American Tobacco and the Accra Metropolitan Assembly were at the scene to ensure the total destruction of the items to prevent scavengers from retrieving them and putting them on the market.

Mr Theophilus Pereira, Chief Collector of CEPS, who supervised the destruction of the items, told newsmen that the move was to ensure that goods that contravened rules, regulations and enactments were destroyed to protect public health.

He said FDB verified the efficacy of the pharmaceuticals declared that some were fake, while others were unregistered or without the proper labelling to identify the manufacturers. The cigarettes were either contraband or had expired. Mr. Pereira assured the public that CEPS would remain vigilant to ensure the public got value for money and not ill health from what they purchased.