ISLAMABAD: In what appears to be a halfhearted move, the Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (Drap) has finally stopped the marketing of highly injurious baby formula milk imported from France and directed two local companies to also recall it from the market.

Sources in Drap said the government of France had declared the milk injurious to health for containing highly sensitive bacteria that can cause prolonged diarrhoea and abdomen diseases in infants.

The French government ordered its manufacturer to recall all consignments from across the globe and pay compensation to its users believed mostly to be in seven countries, including Pakistan.

As Drap did not identify the two local suppliers, it appears to be an attempt to protect the suppliers or marketing companies who should have been made to follow the French procedure to recall the product from the market and pay compensation to those who had consumed the contaminated powder milk.

Drap takes initiative about two weeks after French govt declared the product contaminated

Interestingly, the French government took the action on Dec 1 which was widely covered in the international media, including BBC and CNN, to recall the contaminated baby milk but the marketing of the product in Pakistan continued till Dec 13.

A statement issued by Drap on Sunday said the authority had issued “a public advisory on the use of Celia and Gromore (product of M/s Lactalis International, France) on the event of the global recall of few implicated batches by the principal manufacturer and importers as informed by the World Health Organisation (WHO).”

“These particular batches of Celia and Gromore being voluntarily recalled were recommended for use in lactose intolerant infants. Pursuant to the global recall, Drap has taken prompt action and activated the federal inspectorate and quality assurance team for the removal of implicated batches from the market.”

It added: “Drap has collected the records of import transaction of these batches from France. The recall process has been initiated in collaboration with the provincial governments of Punjab, Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Balochistan, Gilgit-Baltistan, AJK and the capital administration. They were advised to monitor the recall process through their surveillance force.”

An official of Drap requesting not to be quoted said in developed countries commissions were formed whenever such a situation arose. The commissions direct the companies to deposit the amount which was to be paid to the consumers as compensation.

“Unfortunately, in Pakistan regulatory authorities never take notice of contaminated medicines and edible items. In this case, an advisory has been issued because the international media is reporting that the power milk was supplied to Pakistan.

It seems the advisory has been issued to satisfy the French company because not only marketing companies’ names were not disclosed but even they were not directed to launch a media campaign to apologise to the consumers along with pictures of the product,” he said.

“Even consumers are not advised to file cases seeking compensations which means the marketing companies will get the amount of the product which is already sold in the market from the French company. The marketing companies will also demand the amount for the disposal of the product from the French manufacturer but will not pay any compensation to the consumers in Pakistan,” he said.

Federal Drug Inspector Dr Obaid Ali on Dec 15 wrote to Drap and the Ministry of National Health Services suggesting that a public advisory should be issued on the matter.

Dr Obaid told Dawn that France was the only developed country with strong drug rules.

“Some children were reported with diarrhoea in France so the authorities started an investigation and reached the conclusion that the milk was contaminated with bacteria which was responsible for diarrhoea. Initially, the company claimed that only a few batches were contaminated but in the end it decided to recall all the batches manufactured between February 2017 and November 2017 from across the globe,” Dr Obaid said.

“The government of France directed the company to hold a press conference and not only announce the global recall but also announce that compensation would be paid to the consumers. Internationally, the recall started on Dec 1 but in Pakistan no one bothered about it.

“When the matter was highlighted by the international media, the marketing companies on Dec 13 informed Drap that they would voluntarily recall the milk,” he said.

Published in Dawn, December 18th, 2017