Hazardous items seized during inspections

Sharjah: Dozens of bags of 'paan', pornographic images and rubber bullets were confiscated last month in Sharjah, it was revealed on Tuesday.

"Hundreds of items that were either hazardous or potentially harmful have been confiscated. The municipality carries out round-the-clock inspections on a regular basis, and over 6,000 products were seized from street vendors," said Fahd Al Shuhail, Director of the Consumer Protection Department at Sharjah Municipality.

Last month, 6,980 goods were confiscated from street vendors and 757 goods were confiscated from retailers.

"There are many criteria for items, which include toys, food and electronics. Some were found to be violating the moral standards of the country and others were posing a great threat to children's safety," said Al Shuhail.

From May 1 to 31, 3,180 shops were found violating the rules, 311 warnings were issued to shops and 260 shops had their items seized. "The items that were of particular concern, as they could harm children, were blackboards because they had very sharp edges," he said.

Up to 13 bags of rubber bullets, 18 boxes of pornography, 63 cases of fireworks, and 25 laser pointers were confiscated during the municipality's inspections. The confiscated items also included eight toy guns, 32 indecent brands of magazines and 6,665 CDs.

'Paan' is a small parcel of betel nut, tobacco and other ingredients.