At present, to import food products into Lao PDR it is necessary to request an import permit from the Department of Food and Drugs and from the Health Department at Provincial level. The imported goods have to undergo a safety inspection every time by presenting the physical product at the border check point to a Food and Drug safety inspection officer before the product can be released. However, giving import permission for some commodity is still presenting an obstacle to the work of officers, especially the import of milk and candy. Inspection is conducted only on the documents and not on the physical product which would require sending it to a Laboratory in order to detect suspect ingredients, particularly melamine contained in milk products, due to the lack of equipment and rapid test facilities. Some food products have not proceeded through the inspection by a Food and Drugs officer at the border check point due failure of the coordination mechanism and lack of presence of a Food and Drug officer at traditional border check points.
The Department of Food and Drugs kindly requests the cooperation of officers at border check points not to issue an import permit for food products that have not passed an actual inspection of the real product with a Food and Drug officer and also calls for cooperation with all organizations and sectors to notify the detailed address of any suspect ingredients found in milk and candy in order to respond immediately.
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