Sri Lanka agrees to re-test rejected Chinese Fertilizer - Shasheendra

COLOMBO (News 1st); Sri Lanka has agreed to re-test the rejected Chinese Organic Fertilizer by directing samples to an institution that can be accepted by both Sri Lanka and China, said State Minister Shasheendra Rajapaksa exclusively to News 1st on Tuesday (26).

"The Chinese have said that the tests carried out in Sri Lanka cannot be accepted because the laboratories are not accredited," he said.

"We were not forced into this, but they only made a request. We made it clear that the shipment cannot reach Sri Lanka. They said we need to understand the quality of the fertilizer that is shipped by the Chinese company to 16 other countries," he further added.

The Chinese Ambassador to Sri Lanka and representatives from Qingdao Seawin Biotech Group Co., Ltd. have made a request from the Agriculture Ministry to re-test the rejected Chinese Organic Fertilizer via a third party.

This was confirmed to News 1st by the Director-General of Agriculture.

This development came after the Colombo Port Harbour Master said he was unaware of the whereabouts of the ship ‘Hippo Spirit’ carrying contaminated Chinese Fertiliser to Sri Lanka and, issued stern directives preventing it’s entry to the port.

On the 17th of September Sri Lanka’s Minister of Agriculture confirmed that a microorganism identified as ‘Erwinia’ was discovered in samples brought down ‘unofficially’ to Sri Lanka and tested.

The supplier was the same, Qingdao Seawin Biotech Group Co., Ltd.

On September 29th, Sri Lanka’s Agriculture Minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage announced the suspension of organic fertilizer imports from China.

This was after Director-General of Agriculture Dr. Ajantha De Silva on 28th September confirmed that Harmful Bacteria was detected in a fresh sample (2nd batch) of Chinese Organic Fertilizer.

However, on the 10th of October 2021, the Chinese Embassy said the comments noting that Erwinia was found in the samples from Qingdao Seawin Biotech Group Co., Ltd. has no scientific basis.

Yet, the Ceylon Fertilizer Company Limited had got a court order to block payment to Qingdao Seawin Biotech over the shipment of organic fertilizer which was contaminated.

The Colombo Commerical High Court had issued the order on October 22nd, against the Qingdao Seawin Biotech, its local agent, and the People’s Bank.