PANJIM: As the sun sets on fishing for the season and the ban period on mechanised fishing begins on Saturday, Goans stare at the possibility of yet another embargo on fish imports in the fear of the presence of formalin in seafood.
Despite the long drawn battle since July 12, 2018 against formalin laced fish, which led to several bans on fish imports from other states into Goa, Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is yet formulate any policy for the upcoming fishing ban season, when all the fish comes from outside the State.
Sources in FDA said that after the setting up of the Export Inspection Agency (EIA) sub-office no further process has been initiated with regard to the setting up of the laboratory.
Asked about the reasons for the delay, the source said, “Apart from political reasons, a major reason has been the model code of conduct which was into force from March this year till May 25. During this time there has been no progress in the direction and possibly now there could be some progress on the process of setting up the lab.”
While Health Minister Vishwajit Rane could not be reached for his comments, FDA Director Jyoti Sardesai refused to speak on the issue. She said “I will inform you later.”
On July 12, last year an FDA official acting on a tip had raided trucks at the wholesale fish market in Margao which were bringing fish from others states into Goa. The spot tests carried out on the fish samples had revealed the presence of formalin in the fish, however, after directions from the FDA Director, the samples were sent to the FDA lab for testing. The reports later stated that formalin present in the fish samples was within permissible limits.
Between July 12, 2018 and May 31, 2019, FDA has been successful in setting up a sub-office of the EIA, however, the state-of-art laboratory for testing fish and other food products which was promised in November last year is yet to come into existence.
