ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Customs Directorate General of Afghan Transit has seized a huge number of Indian origin consignments misdeclared as ‘white sugar’ destined for Afghanistan.

An official statement issued on Friday said that after confirmation through laboratory tests, the sugar is found to be “unfit for human consumption”.

So far 4,472 tonnes in 172 containers out of 258 have been tested by laboratories and reported as unfit for consumption while the remaining 2,236 tonnes (86 containers) are under investigation.

The harmful intake of this ‘expired sugar’ emanating foul smell and having turned brownish in colour would have seriously endangered the health of Afghan nationals had it made its way to the markets there.

In continuing to play its mandated role in ‘Protection of Society’, Customs at the operational level is further enhancing its enforcement efforts and information network, without compromising on trade facilitation, added the announcement.

Published in Dawn, July 20th, 2019