Imports must be duly labelled

Published: Monday November 24, 2008

ALL ITEMS IMPORTED into or manufactured in Barbados must comply with local labelling and standards laws, says the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs.

In a release issued recently, the departent sought to remind importers and local manufacturers of their obligations under local laws, and that failure to comply would result in products being confiscated or denied entry into the island.

Under the Barbados National Standard, Compulsory Labelling Standards and the Standards Act, importers and manufacturers are required to ensure that dates of minimum durability, of manufacture, of packaging and use-by dates all be declared on labels for all prepackaged food items sold in Barbados.

Those labels should have the day and month for items for consumption within three months, and the month and year for those for consumption within a period longer than three months.

Months should be represented using the first three letters of the word, and where the year is declared, the complete four-digit representation should be used.

Julian Code

The department also clarified its position on allowing importers who bring in items whose labels carry date markings using the Julian Code.

"The Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs has agreed to grant a grace period, not exceeding December 2008, to all importers and local manufacturers to allow their products to become compliant . . . with respect to date markings. During this period, importers will be allowed to affix stickers to the products to convert the date markings to the required format. However, the [department] must be notified of all products to be modified," the release said.


Source: Nation Newspapers
http://www.nationnews.com/story/294920939463040.php