KARACHI: The customs authorities have confiscated 419.56 million tonnes of wheat imported from Ukraine for being unfit for human consumption.

Official sources disclosed here on Friday that a company had imported last year a 17-container consignment of wheat from Ukraine. It was not released from the Karachi port because of the absence of a fitness certificate from the plant protection department.

After about seven months, the department issued a fitness certificate on April 8 along with a release order, the sources said.

The importer filed a goods declaration dated April 8 for the clearance of the consignment.

To verify the quality of wheat the customs authorities drew samples from six containers and sent them to the HEJ Research Institute of Chemistry, University of Karachi, for lab tests. The institute’s report declared that the samples were unfit for human consumption.

“In the light of the test carried out, the given sample of wheat is found having a high microbial load and also damaged by insects. Therefore, the given sample is declared as unfit for human consumption,” it said.

Published in Dawn, April 25th, 2015

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