DUSHANBE, July 17, Asia-Plus — Over the first half-year of 2007, the republican test lab has rejected 735 samples of the tested food and farm products, which is 4.44 percent of the total amount of the goods tested, Davlatali Hotamov, director of Tojikstandart, the agency for standardization, metrology and certification, announced at a briefing in Dushanbe on July 17.  

According to him, over the report period, the agency has tested 775 samples of the imported wheat flour.  “In 18 cases, totaling 2,219 tons, the samples have not met the quality standards,” said Hotamov, “Of 402 samples of wheat products (groats) imported to our country, 4 (totaling 2,190 tons) have been rejected.”

He added that of 3,000 tested samples of confectionaries imported to Tajikistan from other countries, 107 samples (some four tons) had been rejected as not meeting the standard requirements.

According to him, all rejected products have been withdrawn from circulation.  

Hotamov noted that two new labs for testing food products – the physical-chemical laboratory and the laboratory for heating-engineering measurement -- were recently introduced into operation at the agency.