http://www.juventudrebelde.cu/cuba/2007-03-04/donde-esta-el-culpable/

 

March 4, 2007

 

Adulterations (II)

 

Where's the culprit?

Producers, distributors and marketers alike pass the buck back and forth and shift responsibility to someone else for the adulterated goods sold in Cuban markets.

By Yailin Orta Rivera and Norge Martínez Montero / e-mail: digital@jrebelde.cip.cu

 

Workers at a rum bottling plant. At some point in this long chain is the rotten link where adulterated products sneak in that deal such a hard blow to our pocket and satisfaction.

 

 

 

It defies belief that despite the countless measures and provisions put into practice by our country�s entities, fake products still find their way into, and are sold in, a number of outlets.

No more than seven days had passed after the first article of this report was published when we realized that both the manufacturing and marketing enterprises, as well as their storage and distribution networks, have control systems in place which could spare the citizen�s finances the effects of so much outrage �if they only worked properly.

 

Theory is one thing, but practice is another matter altogether. This big structure of standards and guidelines can hardly stand up without support: it has to rely on the serious-mindedness and will of those who have to implement them and enforced them. And that�s where a few things get jammed.

 

Judging from the information we have received from our entities about the topic of adulterations, it�s very hard, not to say impossible, to find the chinks in the wall that let the forgeries slip in.
 

OUTSIDE SUCHEL

According to the managers, none of the products bearing Suchel�s seal is ever adulterated in their factories. Should the case arise, it would be in their outlets, a scheme between the staff there and any outsider.

 

So it happened in 2005 in shops ruled by Habaguanex. Dishonest people took advantage of some facilities with small storage capacity to smuggle some faked goods from the black market. Thanks to a helpful complaint from a customer, Suchel�s quality specialists and technicians inspected the premises and unraveled the devious machinations.

 

Suchel boasts highly skilled control, laboratory and surveillance personnel in place who watch over quality in production.

 

«We�re not the ones who created this forgery problem. We have a system to avoid them. As to production, we meet the proper standards and provide quality items that we follow all the way up to distribution. It�s not our fault if some irresponsible persons introduce faked goods in the shops», insists Suchel Enterprises director José García.

 

«We have three security systems to protect our enterprises: SEPSA[1] agents, Coraza, and Internal Security Groups». Besides, he remarks, any customer unhappy with one of their products can contact Suchel and get a reply in less than 24 hours.

 

He adds that each product contains over 50 components, which makes it all but impossible to take them all out of the plants. Moreover, the amount of stolen materials reported is not significant enough to feed such «homemade production». Managers at Suchel acknowledge they�re not theft-proof, but they�re very harsh with those who steal.
 

DISAPPOINTMENT IN BARS AND CAFETERIAS

It�s in the outlets where the rum is said to take in water, or better said, to be watered down. At Beverages and Soft Drinks Enterprises, the control system in place seems to be a watertight barrier to adulteration, which doesn�t mean it�s insurmountable.

 

Regarding bulk rum, Technical Manager Nancy Zamora says they send out their delivery liquid carriers with, say, 10 hectoliters, of which they must distribute 9,8 and bring the remaining 0,2 back to the plant for tests to check whether its properties have changed in any way since it left the factory. Such requirement, stated in our collective agreement, prevents the drivers from increasing its volume with water or any other substance.

 

«Havana is the first bulk rum-consuming city, and therefore where these actions are more common. We used to keep an eye on the liquid carriers by putting a tail on them during distribution and very often caught Domestic Trade workers red-handed, engrossed in the �water operation�,», Zamora recalls.

 

Adding water and questionable alcohols to the rum is a most favored practice, but once the product is stored in the points of sale responsibility falls on their management�s shoulders.

Suchel Enterprises is only liable for the right product quality and distribution. «So far Trade and Food Services have not complained about any adulteration», remarks Nancy Zamora. «We can be held accountable up until the managers receive the merchandise and issue the corresponding invoice».

 

However, some outlets inspire anything but confidence when they fail to put the rum for sale right away.

 

«For a long time our product quality was challenged, but we proved in our meetings with Domestic Trade authorities that we had nothing to do with the poor quality of some rums sold in the market. Our product is delivered together with a certificate of conformity with the standard, and we keep some lots as evidence in case any claims arise», assures the Technical Manager, who says bulk rum�s water hardnes is zero; otherwise it�s been watered down outside the production plant.

 

«We�ve detected bottles of rum with mixtures of water and coffee, coloring water, or just other rums inside which increase its turbidity and sedimentation to levels inconsistent with a factory-made product», she adds.

 

«The marketers always point their finger at us, even if they have no proof whatsoever. When production is in the order of thousands of liters it�s impossible to have good and bad together».

She says a number of disciplinary measures have been taken with some warehouse workers, ranging from fines for material responsibility to layoffs. Penalties are applied to the warehouse managers because that�s the only link along this chain where goods can be stolen from the factories, she points out.

 

«It�s very unlikely that these illegal acts will happen in our industries, where the production manager places an order to the warehouse which has to be consistent with the finished lot. And the deficits have to match. For that reason we have reinforced our permanent surveillance system in the warehouse».

 

Be that as it may, the underground factories have the chance to run on other sources of raw materials, since many industries use alcohol.

 

À LA CRIOLLO

Packs of Criollos cigarettes

 

 

 

Mariela Cables, Technical and Quality Management Director at the cigarette factory �Lázaro Peña�, in Holguín province, comments that they managed to curb the theft of raw materials.

«In 2006 we ran better control systems and only a few workers had to be punished for theft as a result, although we know the problem is yet to be entirely solved. So far this year we have detected four cases of fake cigarettes».

 

This year, she says, there will be a nationwide survey to assess how well accepted Criollos are, and the outcome will serve to define what we�ll do to improve our efficiency.

 

Mariela points out that, owing to the small number of experts they have to take care of quality control wherever Criollos are made, they�re willing to qualify inspectors from the Ministry of Domestic Trade to help pinpoint these problems across Cuba.
 

COUNTERCURRENT

Contrary to common corporate practice at international level, some of our enterprises set their sights on the fulfillment of production targets and the achievement of large figures, allocating whatever resources they have to those ends in detriment of other important duties.

 

How often do we hear that such and such entity is the best because it fulfilled �or overfulfilled� its production and sales plans? And yet, who can say for sure that its turnout is on a par with quality? Or whether the item they manufacture and what reaches the customer�s hands is really one and the same?

 

Many enterprises market goods bearing national trademarks that were never inspected by the producer�s quality control department in the first place, which conspires against both their image and the provisions for consumer protection.

 

«The producers are responsible for guaranteeing the adequacy and quality of their goods until they make it to the consumer, that is, the end user», insists María del Carmen Moreno, director of the National Bureau of Consumer Protection.

 

She adds that marketers are also highly responsible for it, since «they have to verify what products they receive, pursuant to the contract signed with the suppliers».

Package of Cubita coffee

 

 

Nevertheless, in visits to several outlets, JR could see that the producers very frequently wash their hands of their output�s destination and the marketers usually make do with a perfunctory review.

 

According to the top management of industries like Beverages and Soft Drinks Enterprises, Suchel, Cubita, the Cigarette Factory �Lázaro Peña� and Dairy Products Enterprises, among others, they�re not entitled to inspect their products in the points of sale.
 

IN CONFIDENCE

El Rápido La Palma, a fast-food place in Arroyo Naranjo Municipality, is open around the clock and a preferred choice for scores of people who go there even late at night.

 

JR visited the place recently and talked to the manager Zulema Castro, who told us no supplier has ever dropped by to verify the quality of what they sell there.

 

On the day we met there were over 20 items on the menu: Cuban cigarettes, Ciego Montero soft drinks, Cristal and Bucanero beer, and an assortment of snacks.

 

«Since I�ve been managing this place no one from the Tínima brewery �nor from any other enterprise� has come to check whether we�re really selling the beer they produce in Camagüey province», remarked Luis Prieto, the administrator at El Segundo Dragón de Oro (our previous article reported evidence that this place was selling adulterated Tínima beer).

 

Similar things happen at Brimart, a shop in 10 de Octubre Municipality, where hundreds of goods are sold in CUC whose trademark integrity no supplier has ever cared to check, no more than in the rest of the 25 outlets our team visited.

 

ARMS AGAINST DECEPTION

A clerk serves a customer at a Cuban foods and drinks outlet. None of the entities involved is willing to accept responsibility for a scam that allows a few to live at the expense of many,

 

 

 

A survey by JR knew of actions that many managers take in their units to try to stop the sale of fake goods.

Some say they not only check the merchandise they receive, but have tried as well to put original methods into practice to make sure they�re the real thing. So has done Lázaro Borrero, manager of the Rey Mono market in Centro Habana Municipality.

 

Lázaro even has a seal to stamp his full name on some products often adulterated. For all his success so far, he claims to use other methods.

 

«When a supplier comes with deliveries I check them thoroughly to see if they have the same lot number, seal and appearance», he adds.

 

«In a year and a half as a manager I�ve seldom heard any complaint about quality, but when it happens I call the producer and deal with it.

 

«A low quality product can only be sold if it came like that from the factory, as it happened once with Planchao Silver Dry rum when the customers smelled a rat �or better said, tasted it. We called the producer and he told us it had a different taste because they had bought alcohol for that lot directly from a sugar mill. At any rate, they came to replace the rum », Lázaro added.

 

Right at the entrance to Havana�s Barrio Chino is El Pórtico, whose manager Lourdes Osorio claims she never gets over-confident despite the fact that she carefully checks the seals, aspect and lot numbers of all the merchandise she receives.

 

«The adulteration techniques have improved. Who can assure me that the forgers don�t stamp a false lot number using the same design they print in factory?», she wonders.

 

«We managers should know more about production technology to avoid being fooled. The suppliers can be very helpful in that respect by making constant changes in their products so that the forgers have no time to catch up. That�s a possibility, but I�m sure there are other ways to stop that tendency», Lourdes says.

 

Still on the agenda are scores of examples on how some people try to prevent their outlets from receiving adulterated goods, but truth is, the problem persists.
 

IF WE SPARE THE ROD?

Judging from the replies submitted by several entities, they are not oblivious to this matter, even if the sale of adulterated products in the market has gained ground.

 

Ranking first among the affected, the Ministry of Domestic Trade let us know about some steps they have taken to stop the scofflaws from turning into a rule what should have always been an exception.

 

They count on a security corps in charge of raiding the outlets at any time of day or night, one special target being their ledgers and register of deliveries.

 

Another measure favored by the officials includes choosing items at random and testing them for legitimacy, as well as qualifying their inspectors to help them attain the professional level they need.

 

Pressure on the violators comes also from the National Bureau of Standards (ONN) by means of inspections throughout the network of production, distribution, marketing and sale. Over 2,000 nationwide probes into product and service quality in many fields and 1,005 metrological surveillance operations that covered all kinds of measuring instruments last year dug out a total 1,241 violations which entailed more than 200 fines and 964 obligations to fix deficiencies where they were found. However, for all the measures and guidelines the inspectors laid down to a deadline for more than 900 entities, 60 of them are yet to find a solution to their problems.

 

«We notice less violations of product standards, unlike the case of the services, 60% of which were shown by the inspectors to have problems regarding custumer service and hygiene in the workplace, to name just two», said ONN Director-General Nancy Fernández.

 

Most violations of mandatory Cuban standards on consumer protection have to do with the labels of prepacked foodstuffs and food safety, she remarks.

 

Also tracking the forgers is the National Revolutionary Police (PNR). Their Head of Information, Lieutenant Colonel Ángel Díaz, reports a decrease of these actions in the last few years since the police have dismantled several clandestine factories across the country.

 

«People cooperate because they know that those who devote themselves to this business just want to make a fast buck. Many worry that they will eventually buy their fake goods unknowingly», added the officer.

 

WHO CAST THE FIRST STONE?

 

Most of the managers who replied to our first article claim they strictly enforce the regulations to assure control over the economy, which we�re sure they do. Nevertheless, it seems paradoxical that the theft of raw materials from the entities to feed the clandestine factories is the forger�s preferred M.O., according to police findings.

 

Administrators and drivers alike assure they follow the rules to tackle these illegal acts. Yet, the state surveillance bodies keep tumbling onto violations. Where are the cracks through which fraud comes in? Until we get an answer, the people and the national economy will be the biggest losers.

 

Tips against fraud

Botella de cerveza cubana marca Tínima

A bottle of Cuban beer Tínima 

 

� Make sure the injection point in the bottom of plastic containers is rough and not smooth. Besides, it must be narrow.

� Bottled rum is originally bright, but turns murky when adulterated, as if it had fuzz. There must be no sedimentation.

� Look closely at the label of a bottle of beer: smoothness to the touch means it was not glued in the factory, where they use a roller that leaves stretch marks on it, visible when you hold it up to the light.

� A pack of Criollos cigarettes come from the factory with a number between 2 and 20 stamped on the top and visible under the plastic wrapping.

� All packages of Cubita coffee must be compact, otherwise they can�t be sold.

� As to Suchel, all its products bear the lot number on the package, which must never be scratched or stained.

� Always demand the proof of purchase (receipt). Furthermore, remember to puncture or break the packages before you throw them away so that nobody can take them and fill them with who knows what.

� For any doubts about Suchel, dial 649-0919 in Ciudad de La Habana province.