Canned fish or canned salmon has long been considered as a staple food for the public. In the past, these canned fish were found only in a house that is said to be rich in the village. Not everyone in the village could afford to buy these canned fish at that time.
But now the situation has changed. Today, canned fish or salmon is used by same in both rich and the poor household. Especially when the times of Covid -19 spread in the Peliyagoda fish market, when ship caught fire and during the tsunami, etc the people of this country could not be able to eat fish. At that time many people used to eat salmon.
The average price of a can of salmon in the market today is around Rs.320-450. The present government provides salmon to the people at a very concessionary price through Lak Sathosa.
From time to time we hear different stories about salmon that everyone used to eat. It is about importing substandard containers of salmon and in sometimes we have also heard of them being re-exported.
But here we are revealing on fraudulent sales of canned salmon. It is about an incident where a canned salmon which was rejected by the people is sold them back by a Cabinet order. These are sold through the Sathosa.
Global Trading Pvt. Ltd., Dam Street, Colombo, a local businessman, imported a consignment of Chinese-made salmon to Sri Lanka in December 2020. That’s the kitchen king mackerel. But even then, Global Trading (Pvt) Ltd continued to receive complaints from consumers across the country that the salmon was not in quality standard. Most of the complaints were received through the facebook.
The owner of Global Trading immediately noticed this and told the exporter in China that he has no longer wanted salmon from their company as people would reject it. However, 15 containers of salmon have already been sent to Sri Lanka and China has been asked to accept them. The 15 containers of salmon arrived to where they were inspected and approved by the Standards Institution in Sri Lanka on last December. But the owner of Global Trading did not accept them. He has also given a letter to the Customs stating that he does not need these containers. Accordingly, the salmon containers were confiscated by the Customs after the release period.
Meanwhile, this Chinese salmon producer has come to Sri Lanka to found another buyer to supply this stock of salmon. But everyone has refused to buy this. After wandering around for about a month, the owner of Global Trading Company informed that they would be re-exporting all these containers. While preparations were being made for re-export, a stock of salmon was given to the Sathosa by a Cabinet order. But the owner of Global Trading did not know anything about this.
Accordingly, canned fish banned by customs has been sent for sale through Sathosa outlets. At the same time, an e-mail has been sent instructing them to affix a sticker to hide brand name of the salmon. Ruvini Dinushika Malwatta, Head of Assistant Accounts, has sent an e-mail from the Head Office with instructions in this regard to all Lak Sathosa outlet managers on 10th July.
Accordingly, in these canned salmon the price labelled as 320 rupees. Managers of Sathosa regional outlets have been instructed in writing by the head office to affix the label and print them at any place of their choice. Local Sathosa outlets have been instructed by the head office to remove the excising label when affixing the new label, but some outlet managers have deliberately refused to defraud the public. It has been reported from the Anuradhapura area that they have refrained from selling the salmon and have not printed the relevant sticker.
Global Trading Company, which imported the salmon, also acknowledges that the salmon was being prepared for re-export. The importer has strongly disagreed to the sale of these salmon and they also said this with meeting the Minister and other senior officials.
The Consumer Affairs Authority has also received complaints from the public regarding these canned salmon as its substandard quality. Accordingly, the Consumer Affairs Authority has sent samples of these salmon for testing and it is said that the test results have not been received yet.
In such a context, this kitchen salmon which named as mackerel is now returning to the market.
-shaani-
