SUBSTANDARD CHINESE SALMON BEING RETURNED

COLOMBO (News1st): Forty-eight imported containers of substandard salmon will be returned to China, customs officials said Thursday. The stock weighing 768 metric tonnes had failed to comply with national standards, customs spokesman Sunil Jayarathne told media. The imported consignments have been valued at Rs 384 million. The Sri Lanka Standards Insitute had rejected the imported stock as it contained arsenic, a heavy metal, in excess of the approved limits, the spokesman added. "We observed elevated levels of arsenic in the recently imported consignments. Therefore, we directed the customs department to return these stocks," Director General - Sri Lanka Standards Institute Dr. Siddhika Senaratne said. Meanwhile, the Leader of the Jathika Jana Balawegaya, Anura Kumara Dissanayake, also raised concerns in parliament on stocks of canned fish that had been purchased by state-owned retailer Sathosa recently. "The chairman of Sathosa that falls under the trade ministry had purchased a stock of canned fish. The Sri Lanka Standards Institute investigated the stock as it contained 2.5 percent of arsenic. I'm aware that Minister Bandula Gunawardana did not oppose that," the Jathika Jana Balawegaya leader said. He added that the Minister allowed the investigation to take place by understanding that the SLSI should inquire into substandard items if they are sold at an institution under his purview. Questioning the ultimate result, the JJB leader said that the Sri Lanka Standards Institute was transferred from the purview of the trade ministry to the technology ministry. "That is because the Sathosa chairman has close ties to certain top political figures. That is the truth," the JJB leader added.