MARGAO: Iva Fernandes, the South Goa FDA Officer whose report had indicated the presence of formalin in the fish imported to Goa, will be in charge of the FDA team which will be inspecting all the fish arriving at the wholesale fish market.
Health Minister Vishwajit Rane said that from Monday onwards Iva Fernandes would be assigned the responsibility of heading the team which would scan the wholesale fish market, ensure that protocols are maintained, draw samples, do the test and do the confirmatory test in the lab. “We don’t want anyone to doubt our integrity on this issue,” Rane said.
On Thursday, a private individual had claimed that the fish sold at the market had tested positive for formalin. The health minister said that he was aware of the claim and had directed FDA to take necessary action. “Nobody in Goa has got the FDA licence to sell fish in the wholesale fish market. Tomorrow onwards, we will be checking the challan whether the truck has a FDA licence for transport or for sale of fish,” the minister said.
In response, the FDA issued an order stating that as per the office record till date no trader has obtained wholesale licence for trading in fish from the FDA and therefore if the fish consignment is imported for domestic consumption by wholesale traders, then the same should not be permitted inside the State till the wholesalers obtain the FDA licence.
On Friday, FDA teams will be deployed at the border to check the FDA licence of every truck entering the State. A team will also be deployed at the wholesale fish market. They will also test the fish in the trucks for the presence of formalin.
Interestingly, the SGPDA has issued an NOC to the traders based on the premise that the wholesale fish market is only an unloading point. Unless the SGPDA revises its NOC to allow the wholesale traders to sell fish in the wholesale market, it is unlikely that the traders will be able to obtain the FDA licence.
