FDA sensitises stakeholders on storage and distribution practices

Cape Coast, Nov. 19, GNA – The Central Regional Office of the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) has sensitised more than 70 distributors and operators on good storage and distribution practices to protect the integrity of the FDA regulated products.

Mr John Laryea Odai-Tettey, the Central Regional Director of the FDA, said the training sought to caution the participants on the current trend of illegal activities being undertaken in various operating facilities to help stem the practice.

The illegal trend, he mentioned, included unauthorised repackaging and disposal of damaged and expired products, and defacing of products.

Others were altering original information on product label, operating under insanitary conditions and stocking of unregistered products.

To protect product integrity, Mr Tettey urged participants to employ the set of requirements during storage, distribution and sale to ensure their activities were in line with the FDA’s rules and regulations.

Backing his point with Law, he said Act 851 of the Public Health Act (2012) mandates the Authority to regulate the manufacture, storage, distribution, sale, importation and exportation of food, drugs, medical devices, household chemical substances, cosmetics, and biological products among other things in the country.

Ms Rosemary Doe Sorkpe, a Senior Regulatory Officer of the FDA, advised participants to ensure their storage and distribution facilities went hand in hand with the Authority’s requirements.

“The FDA is a National Regulatory Authority in Ghana and has a duty to ensure that storage and distribution facilities meet quality standards,” she said.

Every stage of the manufacturing process must comply with a pre-determinable standard in addition to ensuring operation regularisation by the facilities, he said.

The FDA, as part of its regulatory activities to protect the health and safety of the consumer, provided industrial/technical support services to increase the knowledge base of manufacturers.

Participants were taken through the good storage and distribution practices including repackaging, relabeling, and pest control and pledged their commitment to ensuring their services met the FDA’s standards and requirements.
GNA