Bahrain’s Prime Minister has ordered tougher measures at entry points on imported fruit - especially watermelon.

He instructed authorities to intensify inspection campaigns in markets and take samples for lab tests, said a report in the Gulf Daily News (GDN), our sister publication.

His Royal Highness Prime Minister Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa gave orders to stop the import of fruit which prove unfit for human consumption or contain harmful substances.

He directed food safety control authorities to exchange information with their counterparts in other GCC countries regarding this issue.

He also instructed the Health, Works, Municipalities and Urban Planning and Industry and Commerce ministries to take all precautionary measures immediately.

The Premier extended the same instructions with immediate effect to the Interior Ministry's General Directorate of Customs.

Meanwhile, Bahrain has been declared free of any imported Iranian watermelon. The agricultural quarantine directorate and the Health Ministry's food control department surveyed the local market and ensured agricultural products are free of any insect infestation, chemical pollutants or pathogens. - TradeArabia News Service