CANACONA: With questions being raised over entry of vehicles carrying fish into Goa without the mandatory testing of chemical preservatives, Food and Drug Administration (FDA) team late Friday night checked 13 fish trucks and sent back three for not complying with FDA norms.

Sources at Polem checkpoint, which is the only motorable entry for four and above wheeled vehicles into Goa from the Southern side, said that a vehicle with FDA officials arrived at Polem around 9.30 pm on Friday. 

Till 6.00 am on Saturday, they had checked 13 vehicles for the presence of fomalin, ammonia and any other chemical preservatives. 

The FDA team comprising of a Food Safety Officer and support staff also checked whether fish was brought in an insulated vehicle or not and if all conditions made mandatory by FDA were adhered to. The norms were amended after FDA had detected formalin in fish in a raid conducted on July 12 last year. 

Sources added that of the 13 vehicles, three were disallowed entry into Goa either for not possessing FDA license, bill or not carrying fish in an insulated vehicle. 

Out of the three vehicles sent back, one was a Tamil Nadu registration, another which was from Andhra Pradesh, after being denied entry at Polem headed to Karwar fish market and sold all four tonnes of mackerels at the rate of Rs 150 per kg to a local fish agent, sources at Karwar fish market said.

The third vehicle which had come from Hubli with freshwater fish was denied entry for not having an insulated carrier since Goa FDA doesn’t permit uninsulated vehicles coming beyond 60 km of Goa border.

It was reported that Goa FDA has appointed an outstation agency from Delhi to conduct checks on the vehicles entering Goa from Polem and Patradevi. But since Saturday the enquiries reveal that no such activity has yet started at least in Polem.

Pradeep Mokhardakar a traditional fisherman from Talpona speaking to Herald pointed out loopholes in the system of checks adopted by FDA,

“If a vehicle comes from far off state like Andhra Pradesh with fish, and it transfers the crates to another vehicle at Karwar Baitkul jetty, with a new challan, then how can the FDA officials refuse entry to this Karwar vehicle bringing fish, which in fact is coming from the wast coast of India,” Mokhardakar questioned.