Imports of Johnson & Johnson (J&J) talcum powder have been stopped in Sri Lanka till the corporate proves its product is free from asbestos which will trigger most cancers.
Talc is a well-liked healthcare product throughout Sri Lanka and far of Asia. Sri Lanka imports the product from J&J India.
The nation’s National Medicine Regulatory Authority (NMRA), which is an element of the Health Ministry, stated it had knowledgeable the distributor, A.Baur & Co, that it could require additional assessments to proceed importing the powder.
“We have held their re-registration and knowledgeable the distributor to submit high quality experiences from an accredited laboratory to make sure there is not any asbestos of their merchandise,” Chief Executive of NMRA Kamal Jayasinghe informed Reuters.
According to an unnamed consultant on the NMRA, the license for A.Baur & Co to import the product expired in December.
Head of shopper affairs for A.Baur, Shalutha Perera, informed the media that the agency has knowledgeable J&J India of the suspension of the licensing course of.
“J&J India directly handles all the regulatory matters,” he stated, including that NMRA contacted A.Baur in December relating to new asbestos testing.
A spokeswoman for J&J India stated the corporate “is in full compliance with current Indian regulatory requirements for the manufacturing and testing of our talc.”
She added: “We are fully cooperating with the Indian government and are awaiting results from their testing.”
According to the spokeswoman, the product was routinely examined by each suppliers and unbiased labs to make sure that it’s free of asbestos.