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Probe on NPQS over Chinese fertiliser: No provisions for 3rd party testing: NFS

22 Jan 2022

  • Chinese shipment dispatched prematurely: NFS Director
  • Says due procedure not followed
  By Skandha Gunasekara The National Fertiliser Secretariat (NFS) has defended the National Plant Quarantine Service (NPQS) testing of the controversial Chinese fertiliser shipment, asserting that it is a violation of Sri Lanka’s sovereign rights to question the findings. Responding to queries over an investigation into the test results of the NPQS, National Fertiliser Secretariat Director Mahesh Gammanpila said that according to the International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC), the findings of a test result by the NPQS of any country must be respected and accepted, as it was that country’s sovereign right.  “I’m not sure of the progress of the investigation, but the main reason for the test results of the NPQS to be questioned is because it doesn’t have the accreditation for organic fertiliser. However, the International Plant Protection Convention states that test results of the NPQS of any country must be accepted regardless of whether that country has required testing technology or not. That is called sovereign rights, so it is a threat to that country’s sovereignty if such test results of the NPQS are not accepted.”  He asserted that there were no provisions for third party testing and that the Chinese company could not appeal to the NPQS Appeal Board as it had prematurely shipped the fertiliser before the test results had been released.  “There is no provision to allow third party testing in the IPPC either. According to our act, the producing company must make an appeal if they do not accept our test results. Then the Appeal Board can decide whether it should be tested by a third party or not. But they could not go to the Appeal Board because they had shipped the consignment before our NPQS report was released. Therefore, they couldn’t make an appeal.”  He asserted that the Chinese producer opportunistically raised concerns over the test results because Sri Lanka’s NPQS lacked organic fertiliser accreditation.  “Because our NPQS doesn’t have the organic fertiliser accreditation, the producer of the fertiliser doesn’t like to accept its test results. If the test result had been favourable to the producer, they wouldn’t have made a fuss about our lack of accreditation,” he charged.  


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