Imports Of Seconhand Underwear Banned

[matcom]

<snip>

DAR ES SALAAM (Reuters) - Tanzania has banned imports of secondhand underwear, fearing the used garments might spread skin diseases, an official said on Thursday.

Underpants, bras, stockings and underskirts are all covered by the new rule, which will be enforced by inspectors examining consignments of used clothes entering the east African country.


"This is a measure to safeguard human health," said Liandry Kinabo, head of process technology standards at the Tanzania Bureau of Standards, told Reuters. The ban came into force on Wednesday.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=573&ncid=573&e=1&u=/nm/20031016/od_nm/underwear_dc

[GOPisEvil]

1. Makes sense...I don't buy used undies at Goodwill.

:puke:

[Skittles]

7. do they HAVE

used undies at Goodwill???? :O

[GOPisEvil]

9. Scary as it seems, I have seen them for sale.

:scared:

[StopTheMorans]

2. whew, I thought this was going to be about the US for a second

and almost fainted, I'm running low as it is:)

[qwertyMike]

3. There goes

my mail order business :(

[DemoVet]

4. Imagine being asked what kind of work you do

and having to answer, with a straight face, "I'm a used underwear inspector". Actually, it might beat half of the jobs I've had.

[bif]

8. "I have a hand in womens underwear."

Is what you can tell people you do for a living!

[bif]

11. "Business is up and down."

n/t

[Ellen Forradalom]

5. Underpants, you can forget about that Tanzanian visa

Tough break. You get banned because of other's skidmarks.

[On the Road]

6. This is Pretty Funny

but there's actually a huge economic issue involved for Africa.

A lot of the clothes you donate to charitable organizations gets shipped to Africa, where they are sold, not given away. (It's one of the reasons that the Africans in news photos nowdays all have t-shirts and jeans.)

Problem is, it has had savage effects on the textile and clothing industries in African countries. For a nonindustrialized country, these industries are a large part of the economy. Along with subsidized US food imports and high government debt, this has contributed to negative growth in the African economy.

[dfong63]

12. if that's the case,

A lot of the clothes you donate to charitable organizations gets shipped to Africa, where they are sold, not given away. (It's one of the reasons that the Africans in news photos nowdays all have t-shirts and jeans.)

Problem is, it has had savage effects on the textile and clothing industries in African countries. For a nonindustrialized country, these industries are a large part of the economy. Along with subsidized US food imports and high government debt, this has contributed to negative growth in the African economy.

if that's the case, then it seems like a good thing that the donations are sold rather than given away. if they are sold rather than being free, that would tend to make the domestically-produced textiles more competitive.

[Blue-Jay]

10. Dammit. Looks like I'm going to need a part time job now.

:p

[underpants]

13. A caste system for underpants?

I think not!

[ScreamingMeemie]

14. Two words...

EWWWWWWW Ickkkkkkkkkkk!

[trof]

15. What about reconditioned condoms?

I guess retreads are out too?

[geniph]

16. So the panty-sniffers are SOL?

People pay good money for used panties. Always kinda blew my mind - I mean, try to picture a woman paying money to buy a man's used drawers for erotic purposes. Ugh! Racing stripes and yellow stains are just not a turn-on for me.

[short bus president]

17. DAMN!

note to self: come up with new plan to woo geni.