Fumigation is a very vital pre-shipment obligation which has to be fulfilled by the exporter before the cargo is dispatched. Fumigations are carried out for agri-products and all cargoes containing wooden packing material.
Why fumigation is necessary?
Transporting goods in ships and aircraft between countries using containers is an economic and well established practice. Fumigation becomes necessary in order to keep away exotic pests and diseases entering into the country while permitting reasonably rapid clearance of containers.
Timber insects pose a significant Quarantine risk in all countries and accordingly all wooden packing materials used in the export packing should be fumigated. By carrying out fumigation at the port of loading clearance of the container at the discharge port can be done without any infestation problem.
At present a lot of non-compliances are being received by the Ministry of Agriculture with regard to failure in fumigations carried out by fumigation companies. These are mainly due to the following factors:
1. The exporter should engage a fumigation company which must have at least 5 years experience in the field of fumigation and also it should be verified whether the fumigation company has got enough stocks of fumigants, manpower and infrastructure to carry out the fumigation effectively. If the exporter makes the wrong choice in selecting the fumigation company there will be a non-compliance problem at the port of discharge.
2. The cargo which is being exported already is heavily infested prior to export and it becomes very difficult to control the infestation with one single treatment. Depending upon the intensity of infestation further fumigation treatment may be required in some cases. The treatment process differs from case to case.
3. Soon after the fumigation is completed the container or cargo moves to a restricted area (into the container terminal) thereby the aeration or the efficacy of the fumigation can be verified.
4. Most of the exporters are “cost conscious” as thumb rule and they want very low rates for fumigation services. In this process they shop around for “cheap services” and for unethical practitioners of the industry. In some specific cases, fumigation companies compromise on the quality of services and would not comply with the best practices of the industry. This again places other “quality conscious” operators’ business in jeopardy.
5. Some exporters pack the cargo in polyethylene and carry out fumigation at this situation inviting high risk of non-compliance because penetration of the fumigant into the cargo is very less.
6. It has become a practice for the exporters and others requiring fumigation to conduct fumigation at the eleventh hour in the CFS (Container Freight Station) or after the cargo is stuffed into the container. Another technical challenge is, there are no infrastructure facilities in the CFS for isolating the fumigated cargo from other cargoes or there is space between two containers to gas tight the enclosure.
7. We have to be very careful while carrying out fumigation with toxic gases and there is no separate quarantine area in this country.
8. Sometimes the containers are kept one above the other for carrying out fumigation thereby the efficacy of the fumigation goes down due to limited accessibility on the higher level.
9. While carrying out fumigation of wooden packing material it is always necessary to ensure ISPM 15 marking on the wooden packing material and if the marking is not legible the container might be re-exported back to India. Many granite exporters’ containers have come back to India due to missing of ISPM 15 marking.
10. A word of caution and a generic advice to the exporters is, while engaging the fumigation operators they must ensure that right dosages have been administered in the fumigation process and must agree upon the prices for fumigation. This would result in avoiding paying exorbitant fumigation charges at the port of discharge in dollars.
(Fumigation Services has completed 28 years in the field of fumigation and has fumigated millions of tons of agri-products like rice, wheat, maize, groundnuts and chillies and all types of wooden packing material. The company is operating in all major ports and ICDs throughout India.)
Why fumigation is necessary?
Transporting goods in ships and aircraft between countries using containers is an economic and well established practice. Fumigation becomes necessary in order to keep away exotic pests and diseases entering into the country while permitting reasonably rapid clearance of containers.
Timber insects pose a significant Quarantine risk in all countries and accordingly all wooden packing materials used in the export packing should be fumigated. By carrying out fumigation at the port of loading clearance of the container at the discharge port can be done without any infestation problem.
At present a lot of non-compliances are being received by the Ministry of Agriculture with regard to failure in fumigations carried out by fumigation companies. These are mainly due to the following factors:
1. The exporter should engage a fumigation company which must have at least 5 years experience in the field of fumigation and also it should be verified whether the fumigation company has got enough stocks of fumigants, manpower and infrastructure to carry out the fumigation effectively. If the exporter makes the wrong choice in selecting the fumigation company there will be a non-compliance problem at the port of discharge.
2. The cargo which is being exported already is heavily infested prior to export and it becomes very difficult to control the infestation with one single treatment. Depending upon the intensity of infestation further fumigation treatment may be required in some cases. The treatment process differs from case to case.
3. Soon after the fumigation is completed the container or cargo moves to a restricted area (into the container terminal) thereby the aeration or the efficacy of the fumigation can be verified.
4. Most of the exporters are “cost conscious” as thumb rule and they want very low rates for fumigation services. In this process they shop around for “cheap services” and for unethical practitioners of the industry. In some specific cases, fumigation companies compromise on the quality of services and would not comply with the best practices of the industry. This again places other “quality conscious” operators’ business in jeopardy.
5. Some exporters pack the cargo in polyethylene and carry out fumigation at this situation inviting high risk of non-compliance because penetration of the fumigant into the cargo is very less.
6. It has become a practice for the exporters and others requiring fumigation to conduct fumigation at the eleventh hour in the CFS (Container Freight Station) or after the cargo is stuffed into the container. Another technical challenge is, there are no infrastructure facilities in the CFS for isolating the fumigated cargo from other cargoes or there is space between two containers to gas tight the enclosure.
7. We have to be very careful while carrying out fumigation with toxic gases and there is no separate quarantine area in this country.
8. Sometimes the containers are kept one above the other for carrying out fumigation thereby the efficacy of the fumigation goes down due to limited accessibility on the higher level.
9. While carrying out fumigation of wooden packing material it is always necessary to ensure ISPM 15 marking on the wooden packing material and if the marking is not legible the container might be re-exported back to India. Many granite exporters’ containers have come back to India due to missing of ISPM 15 marking.
10. A word of caution and a generic advice to the exporters is, while engaging the fumigation operators they must ensure that right dosages have been administered in the fumigation process and must agree upon the prices for fumigation. This would result in avoiding paying exorbitant fumigation charges at the port of discharge in dollars.
(Fumigation Services has completed 28 years in the field of fumigation and has fumigated millions of tons of agri-products like rice, wheat, maize, groundnuts and chillies and all types of wooden packing material. The company is operating in all major ports and ICDs throughout India.)
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