The Hindu : National : `Testing of samples from export consignments mandatory'

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Feb 25, 2005

National

National

`Testing of samples from export consignments mandatory'

By Our Staff Reporter

KOCHI, FEB. 24. "No chilli or chilli products have left the Indian shores with Sudan 1 contamination since October 9, 2003," S. Kannan, Marketing Director, Spices Board, said here today.

He was reacting to reports that the Food Standards Agency in the United Kingdom had furnished a list of more than 350 food products confirmed as contaminated with the carcinogenic colouring substance. These food items were being pulled off the shelves across the U.K.

Mr. Kannan said that ever since the Spices Board was put on alert by the European Union in June 2003, the Board had made testing of samples from export consignments mandatory. In the wake of the Board's action, the export licences of three Mumbai-based firms were cancelled.

Since then there have been no rapid alerts from the European Union and no consignments that tested positive for Sudan 1 were allowed to be shipped from India, he said.

The president of the Spices Exporters' Association of India, Thomas Philip, said that the chilli powder used to manufacture the contaminated food products was from consignments shipped from the country prior to October 2003. He said that the food producer in the U.K. should have tested the chilli powder for the colouring agent before using it.

Mr. Kannan said that the samples for export were being tested at the Spices Board laboratory here and it was getting more than 20 samples every day for tests.

The Board had attributed a significant growth in export of chilli and chilli products from the country during the current financial year to the initiatives take by it against contamination of the products. Chilli exports jumped to 1,05,000 tonnes between April and December 2004. This is a quantum leap from 48,500 tonnes during the same period in 2003. The jump has been attributed to the anti-Sudan 1 drive by the Board that had generated a lot of confidence in the buyers of Indian chilli and chilli products in Europe.

Within a year of beginning testing of samples from all export consignments, the Board had tested more than 6,000 samples, with its laboratory working in two shifts.

Exporters had also been ordered to submit a certificate in a prescribed format to the effect that the consignment submitted for Customs clearance had been subjected to mandatory sampling. Customs have been asked not to clear consignments unaccompanied by this certificate.

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