Importer asked to re-export controversial wheat shipment

AMMAN — Authorities on Monday asked the importer of a controversial Polish wheat shipment to re-export the consignment, which violates local technical standards.

The decision was based on the results of the Jordan Food and Drug Administration’s (JFDA) tests on samples of the shipment that were found to violate technical standards of colour, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

The wheat shipment — carried on the “MV Thessaloniki” — has generated controversy over the past weeks as the JFDA insisted it did not meet standards, while the importers requested re-testing to prove it was in line with local standards.

The importing company, Smart Solutions, previously requested re-conducting the tests, objecting to the JFDA’s testing procedures that “violated legal sampling and testing measures”. But the administration refused.

The importers claim that the six-kilogramme sample, which by law should weigh only a single kilogramme, included only three red grains.

In addition, they said the sample was taken only from the surface of the cargo, although regulations stipulate that the sample be collected from the surface, middle and a depth of nine metres.

In previous remarks to The Jordan Times, JFDA Director General Hayel Obeidat said technical standards require that samples be free of colour, while the sample from the shipment included grains with mixed colours.

The 52,000-tonne shipment, a quantity that covers the Kingdom’s needs of wheat for 20 days, is valued at JD15 million.