US customs, firm in court over energy bars

THE fate of 4 000 energy bars kept in quarantine at customs in the US yesterday formed the subject of an urgent application.

US customs officials wanted a certificate from the South African authorities that the health bars did not contain any dairy products, and adhered to certain specifications before they would allow them into that country.

If this certificate was not forthcoming by Tuesday next week, the US customs officials vowed to destroy them.

The Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries was subsequently ordered by the court to do all it could to issue the certificate.

PVM Nutritional Sciences Ltd, one of the first companies to manufacture clinical nutritional products to combat severe malnutrition, turned to court to have the energy bars released through customs. This company, established in the late 1960s, produced the world’s first energy bar. It stated in court papers that it had a contract with a Luxembourg company to export a million bars a month to the US over the next 10 years. The deal is said to be worth more than R360 million.

As part of its obligations under the agreement, it recently shipped 4 000 sample bars to the US. This was for prospective retailers and distributors to finally decide on the packaging and branding of the product.

The US Department of Agriculture, has, however, refused to allow the 4 000 bars through customs. This is because it needs certification of the manufacturing and the ingredients PVM used in the production of the energy bars. As a consequence, PVM and the South African department have become embroiled in a dispute, managing director of PVM Alfred Rheeder said in an affidavit.

The department viewed the energy bars as a dairy product in terms of relevant legislation, which Rheeder denied. He said his company was due to lose out on the contract if it was not able to provide the sample bars.

According to Rheeder, his company was well established and delivered the world’s first original energy bar in 1977, based on a product developed in the 1970s for soldiers in combat.

He said in the case of the bars in question, PVM mixed pasteurised milk powder and pasteurised egg albumen.

Judge Hans Fabricius ordered that the department had to issue the certificate and note on it that the milk powder originated from Ireland and the egg albumen from France.

It also had to note that the egg albumen in the exported products were heated at a minimum of 62°C.