Basseterre, St. Kitts, May 07, 2020 (SKNIS): Director of the St. Kitts and Nevis Bureau of Standards (SKNBS), Stuart Laplace, has stated that the bureau is satisfied with the standard of the production of local hand sanitizers, during the National Emergency Operations Center (NEOC) COVID-19 Daily Briefing held on May 06.
“We were contacted by the COVID-19 Task Force Team to do some monitoring in the community for the local hand sanitizers so we have reached out to those entities. In some instances, we have visited the actual location, retrieved samples and brought them back to the bureau to do some analysis. I am here to say that we are satisfied with the alcoholic content, that is, fit for purpose in terms of fighting the COVID-19, so we have no issues there,” said Mr. Laplace.
The director said that some entities have expressed that they would like to export their items. He said to do this they must follow the labelling standards protocols.
“The product must contain the country of origin, it must have a physical address, as well as the contact for the business, the units that are required in terms of the standard units, that is, the SI Units. That is, if you have ounces on the package that is fine, but in relation to export it must have on let’s say millilitres if you have listed it in ounces,” he said.
Mr. Laplace added that the product must display a batch number, must have directions for use, as well as warnings. The product should display the contents, whether nutritional or otherwise.
“In the instance of hand sanitizers, it’s just the contents in terms of whether your using aloe vera, glycerine, the type of alcohol, etc,” he said.
The SKNBS director stated that manufacturers should avoid putting unsubstantiated claims on their items “for instance, saying something like it cures cancer or it stops you from getting sick or it gives you eternal life.”