The New Nation - Internet Edition

Chittagong Correspondent

Clearing of a big consignment of contaminated powdered milk worth Taka 125.8 million has been blocked here at Chittagong port last evening.

Chittagong Customs House (CCH) denied appraisal and subsequent clearing formalities of the consignment on charges of no or tempered date of expiry on the packs of the powdered milk.

According to informed sources the total volume of the consignment is 450 metric tons. Each of the packs contains 25 kilograms of full-cream powdered milk.

Senior customs officials in presence of the joint force people physically checked four of the 18 containers laden with powdered milk and did not find reason to be convinced of its food quality.

A top official of the CCH said that the whole lot of the powdered milk would be placed under intensive physical and laboratory examinations tomorrow (Sunday).

Abul Khair Milk Products, a subsidiary of the Abul Khair Group, is learnt to have imported the consignment of powdered milk from Australia.

Though Australia is the origin of the powdered milk, a controversial pre-shipment inspection (PSI) company Bureau Varitas reportedly examined the consignment in Singapore and generated clean report of findings (CRF) for it.

The leading business group has records of selling rotten-wheat, and adulterated butter oil apart from creating artificial crisis of rice in the market by hording after the January 11 political change.

The business group is also facing several cases of document frauds and tax dodging allegedly in collaboration with the PSI companies.

Audit, investigation and research (AIR) wing of the CCH reportedly received information beforehand regarding the contaminated powdered milk and subsequently carried out the physical inspection.

An official of the AIR said that the milk packs had no date of expiry or manufacturing what were mandatory for food items of any kind.

"Missing of these information virtually forced us to suspect the milk unfit for human consumption," Superintendent of the AIR wing Pravash Chandra Tarafdar told reporters.