Be mindful of banned fireworks, traders told

As Diwali festival is just a day away, traders have been urged to be mindful of the selective ban on fireworks that has been in place since 2004 under the Trade Standards and Quality Control Decree 1992.

The purpose of the ban is to avert the risk of injury, impairment of health and/or death of the user or people around them.

The types of fireworks that are declared dangerous include the following groups: Shells (spherical display shells, a common shop name is “dragons eggs”), firecrakers (woodpeckers, strikers, pulling/string crackers); aerial wheels; mines (bag mines, cylinder mines); rockets (moon travellers) and rockets without stick.

Permanent Secretary, Shaheen Ali said the fireworks declared dangerous contain large amount of explosives, are noisy and/or are also projectile while fireworks that are permitted are low hazard and entertaining with the beautiful array of lights and special effect, we would still like to remind the general public to take necessary precautions in their use.

The Ministry of Industry and Trade, with the Mineral Resources Department, has been undertaking inspections of retail outlets in the Central/Eastern, Western and Northern Divisions.

“During the inspections a number of banned fireworks have been seized and the Ministry is in the process of taking necessary action against those traders for breaching the law”, said Ali.

“Traders are reminded that the fireworks/firecrackers that are declared dangerous cannot be sold in Fiji. Therefore, any trader found in possession of the banned fireworks will be fined on the spot and will also be liable for prosecution."

 "Furthermore, in accordance with the Explosives Act persons under the age of 18 years are not permitted to purchase fireworks, unless in the supervision of elders."

 “The traders are also warned that fireworks have to be labeled in accordance with the Trade Standards (Shopgoods Firework Labelling) Standard 2005.  Therefore, instructions of use should be in the English language” added the Permanent Secretary.

 With the Selective Ban and Labelling Standards in place, the manufacture and sale of non-permitted Fireworks or incorrectly labeled fireworks is in violation of the Trade Standards and Quality Control Decree 1992.  Breach of this Decree carries with a monetary penalty in the range of $5000 - $25,000.

Diwali, the festival of lights will be celebrated by all Hindus around the country tomorrow.

By Reginald Chandar