No more import of Brazilian wheat

The government will not import wheat from Brazil again in the future because of the bad experience about the standard of the wheat from the South American country, Food Minister Qamrul Islam said yesterday.

 “We won't import wheat from Brazil anymore. If necessary, we will destroy the already imported wheat after getting test reports. The wheat looks bad,” he told parliament.

He also said the government had already cancelled the order for further import of wheat from Brazil.

His remarks followed media reports on the purchase of 2 lakh tonnes of substandard wheat supplied by two contractors -- Glencore Grain BV, Netherlands and Singapore-based Olam International.

Glencore has supplied 1.5 lakh tonnes and Olam 50,000 tonnes to the Directorate General of Food. It cost around $46 million or Tk 355 crore, and 90 percent of the payment has been made, said food ministry officials.

Insiders said the wheat was accepted although the suppliers failed to provide the crop year certificate and the Certificate of Standard and Quality of Wheat, issued either by Brazil's agriculture ministry or chamber of commerce.

The suppliers provided certificates issued by a pre-shipment inspection company, SGS, said Ilahi Dad Khan, director (procurement), Directorate General of Food.

The Brazilian wheat is up for distribution among law enforcement agencies and under safety net schemes, but the police force has already complained of its poor quality along with some dealers and flour mill operators in different parts of country.

The grain's size is smaller and the amount of flour produced lower, said the ministry officials.

Qamrul, however, termed the media reports "false and baseless". "It is still not proved that the imported wheat is rotten," he said. “The food ministry tested the wheat in its own laboratory and two other laboratories and did not find the wheat inappropriate for consumption.”

Some food ministry officials said the quality of the wheat, supplied mainly by Glencore, was not found good enough after tests.

"You can get 80 marks or 33 marks. Both are pass marks. And the wheat imported from Brazil has just passed the quality parameter specified in the tender requirement," said a senior official of the food ministry seeking anonymity.

Ilahi said the size of the grain was smaller and had a deep brownish hue. "Here, we are not familiar with such wheat. As a result, people are objecting and thinking that this is not fit for human consumption," he claimed.

Following complaints, the food ministry asked deputy commissioners at districts to send samples of wheat from storages where the Brazilian wheat is stored.

Qamrul said the Brazilian wheat was sent to laboratories, and the test reports would be available within next three days. "Then I will talk to the press."

The minister said the country's wheat stock came down to 68,000 tonnes, prompting the ministry to import from Brazil. On the reason behind the import from Brazil, Qamrul pointed finger to the recent Ukraine-Russia conflict. 

On June 18, Qamrul told The Daily Star by phone that the quality of the Brazilian wheat was lower than Ukraine's.

This was the first time Bangladesh purchased wheat from Brazil, said an official.

Wheat is usually imported from Australia and some other countries.

According to officials, Bangladesh consumes around 40 lakh tonnes of wheat annually, and nearly three-fourths of the quantity is imported. Till mid-June, the private sector has imported 34.23 lakh tonnes and the government 3 lakh tonnes, show records.