The Ministry of Environment confiscated a shipment of health products imported by Baxter for the Sociedad Dominicana de Plasticos (Sodoplast), a company that recycles these products near Moca. The container shipment at Haina port was confiscated after one of the containers was opened and products containing what appeared to be human wastes (blood and urine) were spotted in the imported material. El Siglo newspaper reports that catheters containing blood, pouches with light coffee colored liquid, napkins with blood, syringes. A Ministry of Environment resolution recently penalized Baxter, a health products company, with RD$131,775 for negligence in its handling of wastes after Moca area residents complained of the contamination of the area where the recycling plant operates. Laws 218-84 and 64-00 penalize the import of used medical wastes.
