The Hindu Business Line : Pak mills get stay against Indian sugar imports

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Pak mills get stay against Indian sugar imports

Order based on 1996 report showing higher sulphur di-oxide content

Bitter controversy
The report found sulphur di-oxide content in “Indian sugar” at 30 mg/kg, below the then European Economic Community (EEC) standard of 15 mg/kg.
EEC standards pertain to refined sugar and not the plantation white sugar that is widely consumed in both in India and Pakistan.

Harish Damodaran

New Delhi, Sept. 5 The saga involving detention of Indian sugar by Pakistani customs authorities on health grounds is getting more curious by the day.

Public health!

The Pakistan Sugar Mills Association (PSMA) has managed to obtain an interim injunction from a district court in Lahore against import of sugar from India on grounds that “it will cause harm to the health and safety (of) the public.”

But what is interesting is the evidence based on which the district civil judge concerned has issued the order, dated August 30. The order has cited an analytical test report of the Pakistan Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (PCSIR) in respect of a sample of “Indian sugar”, dating back to July 30, 1996.

The report had found the sulphur di-oxide (SO2) content in the said “Indian sugar” at 30 mg/kg, which was below the then European Economic Community (EEC) standard of 15 mg/kg. Further, the sample had an ICUMSA of 131, against the EEC standard of 50 (ICUMSA is a measure of whiteness; the higher the number, the lower the whiteness).

‘Bizarre’ evidence

“This is completely bizarre. First of all, how do you conclude that the product being exported now is sub-standard based on the test result for a sample of so-called Indian sugar of July 1996. The right procedure would be to t ake a sample of the present consignment and get it tested at the PCSIR or other accredited laboratory,” an industry source noted.

Secondly, the EEC standards pertain to refined sugar and not the plantation white sugar that is widely consumed in both in India and Pakistan. “Do the Pakistani authorities mandate the EEC standards for their own sugar? If they do not, then how can they claim that our sugar is hazardous for public health and safety?” the sources wondered.

Moreover, the Indian Sugar Exim Corporation had only last year exported four lakh tonnes (lt) of sugar through tenders floated by the Trading Corporation of Pakistan. “In their tenders, they asked for 100 ICUMSA and not 50 ICUMSA as per EEC standards. We accordingly supplied them 100 ICUMSA sugar. The tenders also mentioned an SO2 limit of 60 mg/kg, whereas we delivered at 25-35 mg/kg. If nothing short of EEC standard is acceptable, the four lt of our sugar consumed by them last year should have caused a health emergency there”, the sources added.

The Pakistani land customs had, late last month, detained the first rail rake consignment of 2,400 tonnes entering through the Wagah border. The sugar, from the Saraswati Sugar Mills at Yamunanagar (Haryana), was imported by Rana Brothers, a Lahore-based firm, which has now been restrained from marketing the consignment.

Stuck at Attari

A second rake, sourced by Swera Traders from the Seksaria Biswan factory at Sitapur (Uttar Pradesh), is stuck at the Attari check post of the Indian side for the last one week. In this case, the Pakistani rail authorities have not even facilitated interchange of the rake, because of other rakes, mainly carrying soyameal, have also been held up.

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