Despite the fact that Sierra Leone has signed the UN Citizen Charter on Consumer Protection, the rate of expired foods and products in the domestic market has been on the increase.

At the moment, the markets are flooded with products like Arrow Paste which expired in 2006, Glucose biscuits expired in May 2009 and Tiger Finger Batteries expired in May 2004 And these are only a few of many.

These products enter the country through border towns and by sea from Europe. In Sierra Leone it is the Standards Bureau that is responsible for checking the quality of these goods. Head of Standardization at the Sierra Leone Standard Bureau, Mr Amadu Bah stated that “even though routine checking is done, business people use local harbours to bring some of these goods into the country especially at night, using deceptive methods to bypass government officials like the National Revenue Authority, Standard Bureau and other partner agencies.”

He noted that when products arrive into the country there should be six months left for them to expire and this check is carried out at the Queen Elizabeth II quay. “If any of these imported products are found to be expired then the vessel is sent back or the product is dumped.” For instance, a rice vessel and also poultry that recently returned to where they came from. “At times when we are trying to dump certain groups create objections in protest of the goods not to be dumped in order to retrieve it for consumption,” Mr Bah added.

However, many of these products remain in the stores for months often because they are too expensive like tinned powdered milk, sardines and alcohol. And when they near expiry they are sold at attractive prices to street vendors who in turn sell it cheap to the consumer.

Consuming expired products can lead to sicknesses like skin rashes, diarrhea and frequent headaches. One consumer Aminata Dumbuya at Sackville Street expressed concern about expired products but stated that “due to poverty in this country consumer don’t want to know whether a product has expired or not, because of low price together can purchase it and consume.”

The lack of a Consumer Protection Act is a serious concern in this regard. According to Mr Abu Bakarr Kabbah, president of the Consumer Protection Council, “there is a proposed draft bill that will be forwarded to parliament in a couple of weeks through the ministries of Trade and Presidential Affairs. Another problem is the lack of consumer education to tell people that cheaper products are not better.

Mabinty Kamara, a vendor at Sani Abacha Street noted that some consumers are highly aware of such expired products but still purchase it. “If the bill becomes law then stores will be forced to discard their goods to us much earlier and we will be happy to sell products that are safe and not expired,” she says.