The Tongan government is facing a social media criticism after announcing it has temporarily banned retailing of imported frozen chicken in the kingdom.
The government has been criticized for its lack of committment with many said there should have been better options to make sure the low-income earners, the majority of the people, were not affected by its decision.
Critics also questioned how did the expired products bypassed customs and quarantine control services allowing their importers to bring them inland.
In a press statement from the Ministry of Agriculture (MAFF) on September 21 obtained by Kaniva News it says there has been proof expired imported frozen poultry products had been sold locally.
The statement, written in Tongan, also says the authority has decided to ban any further retailing of imported frozen chicken effective September 21 until further announcement.
It said the government has done this to protect the people of the nation from any harms the expired products may have caused.
It was understood operators of imported frozen poultry products are now only allowed to wholesale the product to the public with the chicken’s labels and boxes to make sure buyers could tell their expiry dates.
While some on social media acknowledged the government efforts to make sure the public were safe many blasted the decision as “unwise”.
Tongan business woman Yvette Guttenbeil Paea asked on Facebook: “Is this the only best way possible? I think not”.
She alleged the government made the decision after one of the chicken business operators in Tonga had imported expired frozen chicken boxes from US exporters. She claimed the business then removed the boxes and repacked the chicken into smaller plastic packs and sold them to the public.
She also claimed a Tongan staff who was working in the business later reported the incident to authority.
Affects
Some commentators on Facebook criticised the government action saying the majority of the public who cannot afford to buy boxes of chicken on wholesale prices were being penalised.
The normal wholesale prices for 15 KGs boxes of chicken were about TP$40.
Critics said the government did not do enough to investigate all business operators who sold imported frozen chickens and deal directly with those who breached the laws.
Many said other food warehouses imported their chicken from New Zealand and Australia and they were still fresh and good for consumption but now they are being affected by the ban as people could not buy them on retail prices.
