Issues of quality and safe food and clothing for children in schools were at the press conference of the Association of Free Consumers of Azerbaijan (AFCA) Eyyub Huseynov, organized on the eve of the new 2013 -2014 school year.
Huseynov said the situation in general is under the control of state structures, but challenges remain. Sewing school uniform and clothing is made only by two factories, which have a monopoly position in this market segment and enjoy administrative support. "The quality of their products can generally be assessed as high. Boys and girls can wear them for the entire period of the school year, from which the quality of the goods does not fall. However, taking advantage of a monopoly, the factories offer school clothes at a high price - an average of 50 manats per set," said the Chairman of AFCA.
As in previous years, the market is replete with counterfeit goods. "Fake school clothes at first glance are no different from the original. However, the analyses conducted by AFCA show that they sew the material with an artificial chemical composition harmful to the health of children," Huseynov said.
In addition, the counterfeit outerwear has no shortcut, informing about the composition and use of the material, which causes rapid deterioration of the clothes. The results of monitoring by AFCA showed that approximately 25-30 % of the proposed school clothes on the market are a product of handicraft production.
This year the State Committee on Standardization, Metrology and Patents has adopted the national standards for the nutritional status of children in preschools and schools. According to Huseynov, the document has positive and negative sides. He appreciates the reflection in the standard of the ban on the use of certain foods (chips, carbonated soft drinks, etc.).
At the same time, Huseynov said that the sale in schools of sausage should not be allowed. The standard does not provide the organization of hot meals in schools, which the Chairman of AFCA connects with the short duration of long breaks (10 minutes). Huseynov proposed to establish vending machines selling fresh fruit in the corridors of schools, which is widely used in European countries. - 08C-
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