{"id":364326,"date":"2017-10-23T15:00:23","date_gmt":"2017-10-23T15:00:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/citifmonline.com\/?p=364326"},"modified":"2017-10-23T15:00:23","modified_gmt":"2017-10-23T15:00:23","slug":"rotten-chicken-we-cant-accept-blame-ceps","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2017\/10\/rotten-chicken-we-cant-accept-blame-ceps\/","title":{"rendered":"Rotten chicken: We can’t accept blame – CEPS"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Customs Excise and Preventive Service (CEPS) division, of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA), has said it should not be blamed for the alleged importation of\u00a0unwholesome chicken<\/strong><\/a><\/span> that has found its way into the country.<\/p>\n

Speaking on the Citi Breakfast Show<\/strong> on Monday, a member of CEPS communication team, Paa Kow Ekumah, said they also do not think something untoward happened during the clearing of the goods.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the case of this chicken, yes, the full work hasn\u2019t been done yet, and we have our officers down there and I\u2019m sure in a matter of a day or two, we will come to the conclusion of it. But nothing really has gone wrong that has to do with Customs having done the wrong thing or even the FDA,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

[contextly_sidebar id=”SxSpc9naPlZt2uGxpQOKugLEsifeuuvl”]Mr. Ekumah also said they are investigating the matter to ascertain the entire truth.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat issue has come up and we are seriously looking at it \u2013 investigations going on from different angles. It\u2019s a little sensitive now and it\u2019s a little early to draw conclusions but what we know is that when it comes to Customs, we will always make sure that we will not find ourselves at the wrong side of the law.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Herald newspaper on Monday reported that, thousands of Ghanaians may be in danger as credible information they have from the Tema Ports suggests that, some unwholesome frozen food products, have found their way into the country under bizarre circumstances.<\/p>\n

Not all the chicken were rotten \u2013 FDA<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Foods and Drugs Board (FDA), one of the bodies involved in supervising such products, also defended its action, saying not all the chicken were rotten at the time they saw it at the Tema Port.<\/p>\n

According to the FDA, after \u00a0its officer assigned to the consignment realized that not all the chickens were rotten, ordered for the unwholesome ones to be destroyed, but prevented the company [that imported the products] from clearing a second consignment full with frozen chicken.<\/p>\n

The Head of Public Affairs at FDA, James Lartey told Bernard Avle on the Citi Breakfast Show<\/strong> that, although the second consignment was embargoed, they later realized that it had been cleared.<\/p>\n

He explained that their officer was subsequently able to detain 2,800 cartons of the embargoed consignment.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know why our officer should be blamed in this instance. In the first place, he has allowed a product to be cleared\u2026he went there, he did sorting, there was a second institution that was among the sorting team, samples were taken, the wholesome ones were kept and the unwholesome ones were destroyed. What has he done wrong? I don\u2019t know how I\u2019m going to blame our officer.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mr. Lartey noted that \u201cWith the second consignment, he had clearly agreed that the product should not be cleared, and it has been cleared, how do you blame him?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHe has followed up and found 2,800 cartons of the one that was not supposed to be cleared, and he has detained them, and you blame the officer for what?\u201d<\/p>\n

–<\/p>\n

By: Godwin Akweiteh Allotey\/citifmonline.com\/Ghana
\nFollow @AlloteyGodwin<\/a>
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