Now, �substandard� wheat from France, Romania

Food directorate refuses to unload 2.5 lakh mts of grain from five ships at Ctg Port

After the confirmation that the wheat imported from Brazil was of low standard, the Directorate General of Food has again found itself in deep waters -- this time for importing over 2.5 lakh metric tonnes of substandard wheat from France and Romania. Samples collected from five ships, waiting with the wheat at the outer anchorage of the Chittagong Port for one to two months, have been found of inferior quality through chemical tests, sources in the food directorate and shipping agents concerned said. The directorate is now reluctant to unload the wheat, they said. According to the Chittagong Port Authority, three ships from France - MV Spar Canis, MV Pintail and MV Albatross   reached the outer anchorage respectively on July 2, May 21 and June 2 with shipments of 51,106mt, 52,500mt and 52,000mt of wheat. Two ships from Romania reached the outer anchorage respectively on June 14 and June 28 with 50,148mt and 52,000mt of wheat. Bangladesh-based Litmond Shipping Limited is the agent for shipping the wheat from France while Uniship International Limited is the local agent for wheat coming from Romania. Md Mainuddin of Uniship confirmed this correspondent that two of their vessels have been waiting at the outer anchorage with wheat for weeks and that there is no government initiative to unload the grains. When contacted, Nurul Huda of Litmond Shipping said three ships have been there at the outer anchorage for weeks but the government has refused to accept the shipment citing sub-standard quality of grains. “The Directorate General of Food recently sent a chemist and a quarantine official to collect samples of the imported wheat. Two days ago, we received a letter from the directorate in which they expressed their unwillingness to receive the shipment. They said their chemical test has found the wheat to be sub-standard,” he said. Nurul also stated that they have been counting losses because of the delay in unloading the shipments and the subsequent refusal. “We have rented out 14 lighter vessels to

unload the wheat from three mother vessels. We deposited some 6,000 tonnes of wheat to the silo of the food directorate. If a mother vessel sits idle at the anchorage for a day beyond schedule, we have to pay them $10,000-$12,000 a day in compensation,” he said. The government procured this wheat through an international tender, and as a courier the shipping agents have nothing to do with the quality of the wheat, he defended.
No one at the Chittagong office of the food directorate agreed to comment on this issue.  However, on condition of anonymity, a senior official admitted the fact that the wheat imported from France and Romania are of sub-standard quality. He, however, could not explain what the government’s plan over the issue. Earlier, Bangladesh Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (BCSIR) found wheat imported from Brazil substandard.  The test results came a couple of days after the food ministry said the wheat was found ‘within the quality parameters or within specification of contract’. The food ministry last week conducted the test in its labs after collecting samples of the wheat from district warehouses following media reports on the import of two lakh tonnes of “substandard” wheat.
Two contractors -- Netherlands-based Glencore Grain and Singapore-based Olam International -- supplied the grains to the food directorate earlier this year. Glencore had supplied 1.5 lakh tonnes and Olam 50,000 tonnes with an import cost of around $46 million.

 

Now, �substandard� wheat from France, Romania

Food directorate refuses to unload 2.5 lakh mts of grain from five ships at Ctg Port

After the confirmation that the wheat imported from Brazil was of low standard, the Directorate General of Food has again found itself in deep waters -- this time for importing over 2.5 lakh metric tonnes of substandard wheat from France and Romania. Samples collected from five ships, waiting with the wheat at the outer anchorage of the Chittagong Port for one to two months, have been found of inferior quality through chemical tests, sources in the food directorate and shipping agents concerned said. The directorate is now reluctant to unload the wheat, they said. According to the Chittagong Port Authority, three ships from France - MV Spar Canis, MV Pintail and MV Albatross reached the outer anchorage respectively on July 2, May 21 and June 2 with shipments of 51,106mt, 52,500mt and 52,000mt of wheat. Two ships from Romania reached the outer anchorage respectively on June 14 and June 28 with 50,148mt and 52,000mt of wheat. Bangladesh-based Litmond Shipping Limited is the agent for shipping the wheat from France while Uniship International Limited is the local agent for wheat coming from Romania. Md Mainuddin of Uniship confirmed this correspondent that two of their vessels have been waiting at the outer anchorage with wheat for weeks and that there is no government initiative to unload the grains. When contacted, Nurul Huda of Litmond Shipping said three ships have been there at the outer anchorage for weeks but the government has refused to accept the shipment citing sub-standard quality of grains. The Directorate General of Food recently sent a chemist and a quarantine official to collect samples of the imported wheat. Two days ago, we received a letter from the directorate in which they expressed their unwillingness to receive the shipment. They said their chemical test has found the wheat to be sub-standard, he said. Nurul also stated that they have been counting losses because of the delay in unloading the shipments and the subsequent refusal. We have rented out 14 lighter vessels to unload the wheat from three mother vessels. We deposited some 6,000 tonnes of wheat to the silo of the food directorate. If a mother vessel sits idle at the anchorage for a day beyond schedule, we have to pay them $10,000-$12,000 a day in compensation, he said. The government procured this wheat through an international tender, and as a courier the shipping agents have nothing to do with the quality of the wheat, he defended. No one at the Chittagong office of the food directorate agreed to comment on this issue. However, on condition of anonymity, a senior official admitted the fact that the wheat imported from France and Romania are of sub-standard quality. He, however, could not explain what the governments plan over the issue. Earlier, Bangladesh Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (BCSIR) found wheat imported from Brazil substandard. The test results came a couple of days after the food ministry said the wheat was found within the quality parameters or within specification of contract. The food ministry last week conducted the test in its labs after collecting samples of the wheat from district warehouses following media reports on the import of two lakh tonnes of substandard wheat. Two contractors -- Netherlands-based Glencore Grain and Singapore-based Olam International -- supplied the grains to the food directorate earlier this year. Glencore had supplied 1.5 lakh tonnes and Olam 50,000 tonnes with an import cost of around $46 million.