Somaliland bans medical imports from Mogadishu

Somaliland has stopped medical imports from Mogadishu as a measure to contribute significantly to the citizens’ access to both quality foods and other products…..

The chairman of the Quality Control Agency Muse Hassan Yussuf who appeared before the permanent committee of the house of elders said the decision was in line with the five-year strategic plan for the Quality Control Commission that earlier this year launched by the president.

Somaliland has stopped imports of medicines from Mogadishu after the agency tasked with the quality control of food and products found out that the imported medical substances from Mogadishu is not fit for human consumption.

The chairman of the Quality Control Agency Muse Hassan Yussuf, revealed when he appeared before the house of elders permanent committee that the Quality Control Agency which is stationed in border points including airports, ports and border areas has monitored the movement of imported goods from Mogadishu and that they were not on the par with the requirement of the agency.

“Medical supplies with no valid documents are not allowed to be imported in the country. Their we many medical supplies from Mogadishu with no documents and informally packaged. We have managed to stop that at 90%”.

The chair has thanked the traders that deal with medical supplies for collaborating with the agency.

He said that the business traders concerning medicines have promised to bring medical supplies that are of high quality and are intended to cure the illnesses.

On average, Somaliland imports between 450,000 and 500,000 metric tons of food, and just above 360,000 metric tons of non-food items. Wheat and wheat flour constitutes approximately 38 % of the food imports by volume, followed by sugar (35 %), rice (14 %), cooking oils and legumes (7 %). Other important food commodities are pasta, dates and biscuits.

Somaliland has been working on ensuring the quality of imported goods from across the world.

However as the volume of international trade has been increasing over the years and resulted in more interdependence among nations, the Somaliland economy heavily depends on international trade.