PANJIM: The Food and Drugs Administration has given all meat vendors three month grace period to put in place necessary infrastructure at their outlets to ensure hygiene and procure food safety licences, since the department has realized that this is the most important shortfall in the meat trade.
Speaking at a World Health Day event, FDA Director Salim Veljee said his department has given meat vendors three months time to obtain food safety licences. The department has been conducting raids since March 1 this year, and inspected over 200 outlets in different parts of Goa.
“What we found during our inspections was that shops lack infrastructure. Of the 200 outlets we inspected, most were lacking in basic water facilities,” he said. The outlets did not have hot water available to sanitize the area and for general use, he said, “and the mandatory tiling of walls upto a height of 6 feet was not done at the shops.”
Drainage and sewerage were other aspects that needed looking into. “Based on this situation, we have decided to approach the panchayats and municipalities to help in identifying the vendors,” Veljee said.
He added that the vendors were to be given three months to get licences.
“At the Goa Meat Complex we will only allow those with a safety approval to slaughter animals. We’ve realized that they need some time and we will give them three months to comply with the safety norms based on which we will give licenses.”
Meanwhile, local traders in the State have welcomed the three month period given to them to get licences but still complained of NGO involvement and timings of the Goa Meat Complex for slaughtering animals.
“We are constantly procuring animals to be slaughtered at Goa Meat Complex. But the problem is that the management there takes its own time to slaughter animals. Usually, all the slaughtering is done by 2 pm. How are we supposed to sell beef at that time, when people usually come in the morning to buy meat?” Manar Bepari asked.
He also said attempts are still underway to remove the involvement of NGOs in the slaughtering process, in an order passed in June 2013.
