Lanka agrees to have banned Chinese fertiliser retested by third party

BY SANATH NANAYAKKARE

State Minister Shasheendra Rajapaksa said in Colombo yesterday that the government had agreed to have a third party acceptable to both the government and Qingdao Seawin Biotech Group of China retest a consignment of Chinese organic fertiliser found to be contaminated.

Chinese diplomats in Colombo said they couldn’t accept the test results of Sri Lanka Plant Quarantine Centre (NPQ) because the institution was not accredited.

“So, there is an impact on both parties. They made a request. However, the ship carrying the organic fertiliser load would be turned back. We told them as it could not be unloaded. There is a quarantine law in the country and we can’t violate it. However, they said that the Chinese company in question has been manufacturing fertiliser for 16 countries in Europe, the US, Canada and Australia and asked us to get an ‘understanding’ about the product’s standards.

“So, we have decided to have a third party acceptable to both parties retest the fertiliser,” the State Minister said.

This development has come after the Colombo Harbour Master said he was unaware of the whereabouts of the ship ‘Hippo Spirit’ carrying alleged contaminated Chinese fertiliser to Sri Lanka and issued directives preventing its entry to the port.

On 17 September Minister of Agriculture Mahindananda Aluthgamage confirmed that a microorganism identified as ‘Erwinia’ had been found in the samples brought ‘unofficially’ to Sri Lanka and the supplier was the same Qingdao Seawin Biotech Group Co., Ltd.

On 29 September Minister Aluthgamage announced the suspension of organic fertiliser imports from China.

This was after the Director General of Agriculture Dr. Ajantha de Silva on 28 September confirmed that harmful bacteria had been detected in a fresh sample of Chinese organic fertiliser.

However, on the 10 October 2021, the Chinese Embassy said the claim that Erwinia had been found in the samples from Qingdao Seawin Biotech Group Co., Ltd. had no scientific basis.