The Hindu Business Line : `FCI can take delivery of Australian wheat'

The Government on Tuesday confirmed that the first wheat consignment from Australia has been cleared for delivery to the Food Corporation of India's (FCI) godowns.

"As per the laid down procedures, the imported wheat has to meet specifications pertaining to both pesticide residue as well as weeds. The customs commissioner would allow the importer (FCI in this case) to take delivery of the wheat only after it is cleared for these norms by the Port Health Organisation and the regional Plant Protection and Quarantine (PPQ) station. And that has now been done," the Secretary, Department of Food and Public Distribution, Mr R.N. Das, told Business Line here.

The presence of fenitrothion, a pesticide, in the imported wheat has been detected at 0.01 mg per kg, which is below the 0.02 mg per kg limit stipulated under the Prevention of Food Adulteration Act. The equipment used to test for such residue, a gas chromatograph, can detect residues of levels far lower than the permissible limits, scientists at the Central Food Technological Research Institute (CFTRI), Mysore, where the tests were done, said.

"The tests were conducted by the Central Food Technological Research Institute on the milled wheat and the results came out on Monday. The PPQ has given a similar clearance vis-a-vis weeds and fungal pathogens," Mr Das said.

`No deviation'

He added that there was no question of any relaxation on quarantine or health standards and "there has been no deviation from established procedures". He was hopeful that the entire 5-lakh tonne wheat already contracted for would be delivered to FCI godowns by the end of this month or early June.

According to scientists at the Central Food Laboratory under the CFTRI, the pesticide residue in the wheat imported from Australia is well below the permitted norms and safe.

"There are standard analytical protocols for such tests and each analysis has been confirmed," they said.

When asked why initial analysis by the Chennai Port health authorities had shown higher residue levels, the scientist said: "Sitting here in Mysore, I can only hazard a guess''.

Reasons cited

The possible explanation: Fenitrothion, a common agriculture pesticide used in Australia, is one of the third generation pesticides that are volatile and disperse in air after application. There could have been a build-up in the enclosed atmosphere in the ship's hold.

The samples were received at the laboratory on Saturday nearly a week after the grain reached the port. It is possible that whatever residue present in the grain had dissipated.

According to a Chennai Port Trust official, usually to collect samples the hatches would be kept open for a couple of hours for the pesticides to evaporate. But here the samples were collected immediately on opening the hatches. As a result, higher level of pesticide content was found, he said.

The port health office in its first report said there was a higher level of pesticides, but gave its concurrence for the cargo after taking further samples, he said. The ship carrying the first consignment of 50,885 tonnes of imported wheat berthed at the Chennai port last week.

More Stories on : Wheat | Standards & Benchmarks | Pesticides

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