The National Commodities and Derivatives Exchange (NCDEX), following a direction from the Kerala High Court in August, has initiated action to clean 6,400 tonnes of pepper which were found to have been contaminated with mineral oil. The stocks have been lying in warehouses for over 18 months now.

In a bid to get the stocks released after removing the mineral oil, NCDEX has notified all the depositors of pepper in its accredited warehouses that they should bear all the costs for cleaning.

The Kerala High Court on August 28 directed the Food Safety authorities to allow the exchange to clean the pepper stocks without prejudice to the exchanges’ rights/claims, etc., against any party for the costs incurred.

Based on the Court order, the notification said, the exchange has taken up the matter with the food safety authorities for initiating cleaning process and will complete it according to the orders passed by the High Court and authorities’ directions incurring necessary costs and charges. Consequently, the exchange has decided to pass on the costs/charges to the depositors.

Published on December 1, 2014