Financial Times

Fumigation threat as global standards rise
By Robert Ingall
Global standards concerning the fumigation of containers used for exporting Sri Lankan goods could have serious financial consequences for exporters.
This was the message given to exporters at a seminar on “Quarantine and Fumigation Procedures,” at the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce last week, by Suren Cooke Agencies and Ceylon Pest Control.

The present fumigation process concerning plant life and those products derived from it, as well as the use of wooden pallets (widely used in the country), came to the notice of Australian customs when live insects were found last year in a container from Sri Lanka — as a result the fumigation company was blacklisted.

In the correspondence that followed between the company and Peter Meadows Consulting, who work with the Australia Quarantine Inspection Service (AQIS), it was discovered that the majority of methyl bromide fumigation performed in Sri Lanka was in serious breach of Australia’s quarantine requirements, according to an e-mail from the AQIS’s Treatments and Inspection Department.

The result of a container not meeting port-of-entry standards means that customs there carry out the fumigation process — at a talked-about cost of A$ 2,000 (Rs 146,445) for the exporter per container.

The move is not just aimed at Sri Lanka, but at all countries that don’t come up to AQIS standard. According to AQIS, “the Australian Government is seeking to maintain exports from Sri Lanka to Australia while protecting Australia from the risk of exotic diseases”.

The inspection service has offered to provide training to Sri Lanka and has written to the Department of Agriculture’s National Plant Quarantine Service.
Even though Sri Lankan exports to Australia totalled Rs 5.45 billion in 2004, compared to total exports to the developed world of almost Rs. 409 billion, there is reason for concern. According to correspondence between Australia and Sri Lanka, “The AQIS standard is not an Australian invention. All it does is mirror current world best practices for methyl bromide fumigation based on scientific fact and many years of experience.”

As Shane Gunawardena, Managing Director, Ceylon Pest Control, said: “I suppose it won’t be long before the European Union follows suit.”
AQIS standards have been looked at seriously by the US, as well as being taken up in a number of Asian countries, meaning that Sri Lanka could be left behind if more countries start raising their standards to those of AQIS.
According to Suren Cooke, Managing Director of the company of his name, who was at the seminar, the country is “walking on very thin ice” as far as Australia is concerned. The fact here is that imports won’t necessarily be banned, but exporters will face huge costs even before their products enter that country.

A senior government official said that the offer of training help had been received, but also noted that Australian standards were the strictest in the world.

“We haven’t had any complaints from other countries. Action is being taken as we have set up a committee to look into raising our standards. We will also conduct a survey with the fumigation companies to find out who are up to the accepted international standards as we don’t want a duopoly,” the official said.

Out of 25 fumigating companies in the country, Suren Cooke Agencies and Ceylon Pest Control are the only two that have the necessary equipment to perform the operations — and have the only two qualified operators to ensure certification (Mr. Cooke expects to pass his final assessment in Australia in the coming weeks).

According to Mr Gunawardena, the price of AQIS-standard certification is “Rs 20,000 for a 40-foot container and Rs 15,000 for a 20-foot one”, a considerable increase from Rs 2,500 to Rs 4,000 these days.

“One of the main reasons for the increase is the cost of the filters needed for the process. Each costs Rs 3,000 and lasts only one hour, meaning that if there are numerous containers, there will be numerous filters, where it takes 45 minutes to fill a container,” Mr. Gunawardena said.

Suren Cooke Agencies Director Rajitha Cooke said: “Only about 15% of containers worldwide are gas-tight, meaning tests have to be performed. For those that are not, they have to be covered and sealed with special tarpaulin. The gas has to be vaporised, which wasn’t done before. The gas concentrate has to be monitored to make sure the concentration is consistent.” And the list went on, meaning added costs to the company and thus the exporter. But it could be a price that has to be paid or else the export market to Australia might well start shrinking.

Back to Business