The Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) has warned against the importation of what it describes as bale diapers into the country.
According to the FDA importation of unregistered, poor quality and unhygienically packaged baby diapers into the country will result in their seizure and safe disposal at a cost to the importer.
The authority in July 2023 issued a statement on the importation of unregistered baby diapers in conjunction with the Ghana Revenue Authority (Customs Division) and the Ghana Standards Authority.
The above notwithstanding, the Authority in a press statement said it had noticed with great concern, the continuing practice where disposable baby diapers are still imported into the country, either unhygienically packaged in bales or hidden in bales of used clothing.
“These baby diapers are subsequently repackaged and offered for sale without adequate label information or no labelling information at all.
Importers are strongly cautioned that this practice goes against the FDA Guideline for Registration of Medical Devices (Appendix II) and the Ghana Standard Authority’s specifications for single-use disposable baby diapers (GS 1166:2017),” the statement said.
The FDA said materials used for baby diapers are tested by the Authority during the product registration process to ensure that any dyes, skin irritants, or toxins are absent so as not to cause harm to babies.
“In addition, handling of bale diapers, frequently re-packed and relabelled under insanitary conditions, can cause germs to enter the genital region of a child, especially a girl child, further posing great danger to their health and well-being,” it said.
By Janet Odei Amponsah & Nafisa Abdul Razak