(Business in Cameroon) - After several months of hesitation, the Cameroonian government has finally banned the production of whisky in bags and drums. The beverage is certainly very cheap (100 FCFA per bag), but is known to have an excessively high alcohol content , can contain ingredients that are unsafe for human consumption (methanol) and is therefore very harmful to the Cameroonian people.

The ban took the form of an order signed on September 12, 2014 by the Ministers of Health, Trade and Industry, making it “mandatory” to adhere to the production norms and standards in place for liquor and other spirits in Cameroon. This norm requires that liquor and spirits must be sold in bottles with packaging that can be stamped. This requirement therefore excludes bag and drum whiskies. Local producers of the latter have 24 months to finish their stock, according to the governmental order.

Producers are concerned. At Fermencam, one of Cameroon’s leading distilleries, which had the idea of democratising liquor consumption using bags in small units, the Managing Director, Maurice Djeutchoua, is wondering what the company will do with its equipment once out of use.

Despite 12 billion FCFA in sales by this company in 2013 (compared to 9 billion FCF in 2012), the Managing Director anticipates challenges accessing financing to procure new equipment to make the transition to bottling. He would like the government to put incentives in place to help distilleries make this transition.

With its thousands of jobs and substantial sales due to the appeal of its product line, the bag whisky industry is certainly a major sector of the Cameroonian economy, but government found that it constitutes a real danger for public health.