BY Buddhika SamaraweeraThe “Hippo Spirit”, the vessel currently in Sri Lankan seas carrying the controversial fertiliser consignment shipped by China-based Qingdao Seawin Biotech Group Co., Ltd., will leave Sri Lanka’s maritime space, Minister of Agriculture Mahindananda Aluthgamage told the Court of Appeal yesterday (8) when a writ petition filed by the Centre for Environmental Justice (CEJ) was taken up.The petition was called before Court of Appeal Judges Sobhitha Rajakaruna and Dhammika Ganepola.Last month, the Ministry of Agriculture stated that it will not accept the reports of any tests carried out by a third party on the controversial fertiliser samples of China-based Qingdao Seawin Biotech Group Co., Ltd.Speaking to The Morning, Ministry of Agriculture Secretary Prof. Udith K. Jayasinghe-Mudalige said: “It is not possible to import fertiliser from this company based on test reports of a third party. If the company wants to supply fertiliser to Sri Lanka, they should follow the prescribed procedure from the beginning by submitting samples to the local testing agencies, mainly the National Plant Quarantine Service (NPQS).”This was after Schutter Global Inspection and Survey Company Ltd., the third-party testing agency selected by Qingdao Seawin Biotech Group, stated that no harmful characteristics such as coliform bacteria, salmonella, and ascarid eggs were found in the fertiliser samples provided by the said Chinese company.Meanwhile, commenting on the “Hippo Spirit” ship at the time, Prof. Jayasinghe-Mudalige said the ship should go back and that there would be no point of asking for compensation or submitting third-party test reports.“We did not ask for this ship to come here. Therefore, there will be no point of giving third-party test reports or asking for compensation for something we did not ask. Furthermore, we cannot get into the ship and test the fertiliser samples in it,” he added.When contacted by The Morning at the time to query what action the Chinese fertiliser company would take in this situation, the local agent of the said company said that he was not aware of such.The Chinese company has also sent a Letter of Demand seeking a sum of $ 8 million in damages from the NPQS.Following tests carried out by local testing agencies, including the NPQS, on the second set of samples of organic fertiliser made in China that have confirmed the presence of harmful bacteria in the said samples, the Agriculture Ministry recently decided not to import organic fertiliser from the said Chinese company.In this backdrop, State Minister of Promoting the Production and Regulating the Supply of Organic Fertiliser, and Paddy and Grains, Organic Foods, Vegetables, Fruits, Chillies, Onion, and Potato Cultivation Promoting, Seed Production, and Advanced Technology Agriculture Shasheendra Rajapaksa told the media on 26 October that China had refused to accept the results of the tests conducted so far.“They (China) said the tests carried out on these fertiliser samples by local agencies cannot be accepted, as they were not accredited laboratories. They said that this company in question manufactures fertilisers for about 16 countries, including Australia, Canada, and the US and, therefore, asked us to understand the quality of these fertilisers,” he said.
