Weighed down by escalating wheat import costs and widespread criticism over its wheat procurement policy, the food ministry is likely to allow fumigation of imported wheat with methyl bromide to save anchorage costs at domestic ports.
Each extra day of anchorage at the port costs $40,000 that is added to cost of import. The waiting period is necessitated to meet the 21-day fumigation requirement in the case of aluminium phosphide, which is used to fumigate wheat consignments to eliminate the quarantine pests.
According to the prescribed fumigation requirements, a wheat cargo has to be necessarily exposed for minimum 21 days in case of aluminium phosphide before opening of batches. But the voyage period of a ship from Black Sea or European Port is about 16-18 days. Hence the vessel has to wait for three-five days at Indian ports before samples can be tested.
The testing takes an additional three days for obtaining all the clearances. This is a minimum of 24 days time and a 6 to 8-day idle period, which is on account of the contracted party and is built into the freight cost. However, fumigation by methyl bromide requires exposure of just three days, and it may be possible to open the batches for sampling within two days of arrival, thereby saving about four-six days of time.
Out of 143 vessels that imported 5.5 million tonne of wheat in 2006-07, 28 vessels had wait at the ports for an average of five days. At $40,000-per-day anchorage, that computes to $5,600,000 paid for idle waiting period at the ports.
Taking the above fact into consideration, a group of experts, appointed by the committee of secretaries, has recommended, ?Wherever the consignment which is fumigated by aluminium phosphide proposes to unload the cargo at the port of entry before the completion of 21 days period, fumigation with methyl bromide may be permitted at anchorage.