Food and Drugs Division: No standards to regulate

There is nothing stopping new brands of sanitary napkins from saturating the market. According to the Food and Drug Division, the Standard of Bureau and the importers and manufacturers themselves, the industry has neither standards nor regulations to control it. But, Stanley Teemul, director of the Food and Drug Division said this needs to change. He said the industry needs to be regulated and restrictions put on the importers and manufacturers, particularly in the area of quality. Sanitary napkins fall under the textiles and garments division of the Bureau of Standards and falls into the same category as disposable diapers. Violet Davis-Maurice, head of the textiles and garments division, said they have had complaints about certain sanitary napkins on the market. She said most of them were concerning the use of super-absorbant powder in the napkins. This powder is used by almost every napkin on the market to increase the level of protection. It is a feature that manufacturers boast of having.

The board has been looking into this same issue regarding disposable diapers. Davis-Maurice said the same consideration will be applied to sanitary napkins as a result. She added that the Board will also have to look at the number of manufacturers and importers entering the industry, since the sudden increase is reason enough to standardise the industry. “When you have a whole number of players entering an unregulated industry like this, the board may think about setting up a specification committee to examine it in detial,” said Davis-Maurice. She added that the committee will comprise of governmental officials, the manufacturers, consumer groups and members of the standardisation board. The end result will be a set of minimum requirements for manufacturers to abide by. “We are not as yet sure if it will come to this,” said Davis-Maurice. But Teemul feels this will eventually be the case for the industry. “When there are too many manufacturers entering the market, like they are doing now, there needs to be some form of standardisation to ensure they are all consistent with quality. It cannot be a free for all,” said Teemul.