At least 93 commercial establishments, including hotels and bars, have had their operating licences suspended in Mozambique due to non-compliance with hygiene, safety, and cleanliness standards, announced the National Inspection of Economic Activities (INAE), cited on Wednesday, 7 January, by the Lusa news agency.
According to INAE’s Director of Operations, Abel Bilal, the data covers the period from October last year to the present and results from 312 complaints submitted by consumers to the institution.
“As part of this process, 54,900 units of expired or poorly stored products were destroyed. Some of these products were removed at the request of the economic agents themselves, while others were found on the shelves,” Abel Bilal stated, as reported by the media.
Regarding the overall report on actions carried out during the festive period, he also noted that during inspections of wholesale alcoholic beverage establishments, approximately 5,400 cases of spirits were seized and are expected to be destroyed in the coming days.
On 27 December, INAE’s Inspector-General, Shaquila Aboobacar, ordered the closure of at least six restaurants and beverage outlets in Manica province, in central Mozambique, for violations of hygiene standards.
During the same operation, more than 4,000 expired and deteriorated products were destroyed.
According to the Inspector-General, the closures resulted from inspections carried out between 22 and 24 December, covering at least 14 economic units in the context of festive celebrations. “The inspections concluded with the temporary suspension of activities in six restaurants and beverage outlets, due to non-compliance with hygiene, cleanliness, and safety standards in food preparation processes,” she said.
She added that during the inspections, deteriorated and poorly stored products were found for sale, as well as significant deficiencies in hygiene and cleanliness in kitchens and storage areas of the inspected establishments.
