Accra, Jan. 7, GNA - The management of the Food and Drugs Board (FDB), in liaison with National Security and Customs Excise and Preventive Service (CEPS), on Tuesday ordered and supervised the re-loading of 15,000 bags unwholesome rice.

The UNPL EMATA MYANMAR RICE, which had been clandestinely off loaded and stored in Shed Eight at Tema Harbour, was re-loaded onto the ship MV Stefanis and ordered to leave the territorial waters of Ghana.

A statement issued in Accra on Wednesday signed by Dr. Stephen K. Opuni Chief Executive of FDB, said it received information about a ship (MV Stefanis), which was carrying the rice (11466 Metric Tonnes - 229, 938 x 50Kg bags) was heading towards Ghana .

The rice had earlier been rejected by Sierra Leone and Guinea for being unwholesome for human consumption heading towards Ghana.

It said this information was immediately passed on to the National Security and upon arrival of the ship in Ghana on December 7, 2009, it was noticed that there was no consignee in Ghana.

The rice was weevil infested and had also not been registered by the FDB as required by the Food and Drugs Act 1992, (PNDCL 305B) thereby making its quality and safety questionable.

The statement said further investigation by the FDB revealed that an official of the Port Health Authority (PHA) had fumigated the heavily weevil infested rice on board the ship.

Subsequently the said official also allegedly picked a bag out of the 229,938 bags for testing at the Ghana Standards Board laboratories. It said considering the food safety implications, the FDB met with officials of National Security, CEPS and PHA and made them aware of the reasons why the consignment could not be offloaded for sale in Ghana or transited through Ghana.

This was because the rice was heavily infested with weevils, had an offensive odour, discoloured and caked indicating excessive deterioration while it had not been registered by the FDB and not bearing any consignee. The statement said CEPS further agreed to delete the said ship from its manifest in order to make it impossible for it to berth and offload its cargo.

It said notwithstanding all these measures taken by FDB, National Security and CEPS to prevent the berthing of the ship, and the discharge of the unwholesome rice, the FDB received an information that some officials at the Tema Port (Port Health and Scanship) took advantage of the Christmas Holidays and allowed the ship to come into berth and discharged 15,000 bags of the weevil infested rice into Shed Eight at the Tema Port.

The statement said FDB in liaison with National Security, CEPS and other relevant agencies took immediate steps to prevent the release of the implicated rice onto the Ghanaian market, by quarantining the 15,000 bags in Shed Eight at the Tema Port.

It said an agent who all of a sudden surfaced and claimed that the rice was consigned to him and was in transit to Burkina Faso was told that if the rice was bad for Ghanaians it was equally bad for Burkinabes.

Meanwhile investigations have also revealed that the said unwholesome rice has no consignee in Burkina Faso.

The statement said to assure the public that the unwholesome rice would not be allowed onto the Ghanaian market, the FDB issued a press release on December 30, 2009 to the effect that all steps had been taken in liaison with the National Security, CEPS and other relevant agencies to prevent the rice getting onto the Ghanaian market and to ensure the eventual re-export of the implicated consignment as soon as possible.

"The level of weevil infestation, the presence of foul odour, caking and discolouration are indications of serious deterioration of the rice, thus rendering the whole consignment unfit for human consignment, "the statement said.

It said in order to ensure that the rice was not placed in any West African country and potential re-bagging and re-exported to Ghana efforts were being made to alert neighbouring West African countries of this particular ship and its controversial and unwholesome cargo.

"The FDB wishes to use this opportunity to assure the public that public health and safety remains our paramount concern," the statement added.