Many exporters, manufacturers, food boards and export promotion councils are working together with the government to get over the crisis of Ethylene oxide in International trade. Before we know the solutions, first let’s dig a little into what exactly is the issue.
What is the current situation?
Since April 1 this year, over a dozen consignments from India have been rejected due to this. Five certifying agencies are set to be blacklisted from certifying organic product exports from India by the European Commission as Indian shippers, cleared by them, failed to meet the norms for ethylene oxide presence in their consignments, particularly sesame (til/gingelly).
The presence of ethylene oxide has been a major deterrent in the imports of agricultural produce from India in the last few years and now a large majority of importers have raised & doubts on the credibility of Indian exports.
What led to this crisis?
Changes in SPS( Sanitary & PhytoSanitary Measures) in last 5 few years:
The number of SPS measures notified to the WTO(World Trade Organization) has increased exponentially and standards have consistently evolved in national, international and individual supply chains. This is even more prominent in major markets like the US, the EU and Japan, where SPS requirements such as maximum residue limits of various Plant Protection Products (PPPs) and levels of contamination have grown more and more stringent.
Many countries have implemented stringent controls like MRL on Agri-products.
What exactly is MRL and why should you care?
MRL (Maximum Residue Limit) and Ethylene Oxide:
MRL limits are defined as safe limits that are supposed to define the maximum expected level of a pesticide (or any other agricultural chemical) on a food commodity after its safe and authorized use. These limits are food product specific and serve as monitoring tools to prevent illegal and/or excessive use of a pesticide and ensure compliance with the registered label. However, Foods that contain residue above the MRL aren’t necessarily dangerous, as long as the calculated acute reference dose is not exceeded.
Ethylene oxide (EO) is an insecticide which has colorless, flammable, highly reactive properties as well as is a toxic gaseous organic compound with a characteristic ethereal odor. It is a man-made chemical that has the formula C2H4O that can destroy most viruses, bacteria and fungus including bacterial spores. Due to this property, it is used to sterilize food items, spices, medical and pharmaceutical products.
Why did Indian exporters & manufacturers shift from Steam sterilization to Ethylene Oxide?
Ethylene oxide sterilization is the best way to sterilize food items when compared with the steam sterilization as Steam sterilization can cause the natural color pigment to fade, reduce nutrition and increase moisture content, which creates favorable conditions for growth of bacteria and fungus and produce toxic substances like mycotoxins.
In 2017, due to microbial contamination with Salmonella SppEuropean Union (EU) amended the regulation (EC) No 669/2009, that led to the increase in number of rejections. To avoid this, food and agricultural commodities exported from India were sterilized with ethylene oxide to inhibit the growth of Salmonella during storage and transportation.
Threats related to ETO and it’s MRL:
While sterilizing with Ethylene Oxide, It must be ensured that after sterilization, the samples should be aerated for 24 hours to remove the residue which is left during the process. If the aeration is not validated properly there is a chance of presence of ethylene oxide residue in samples which can lead to the formation of another toxic non-volatile compound, 2- Chloroethanol which is toxic to kidneys, causing damage to heart, liver and kidneys and respiratory failure. It could be fatal in some cases.
Due to the carcinogenic and mutagenic concerns, EU has proposed separate Maximum residual limits (MRLs) for ethylene oxide and its primary metabolite 2-chloroethanol in different food and agriculture commodity ranging from 0.02 to 0.1 mg/kg (Commission Regulation (EU) 2015/868).
(EU MRL for different food products) https://ec.europa.eu/food/plant/pesticides/eu-pesticidesdatabase/mrls/?event=details&pest_res_ids=91&product_ids=&v=1&e=search.pr
What steps are being taken to solve the issue?
Now that we have some background knowledge on the subject, let us understand if Indian exports can be trusted with regards to ETO and MRL.
Government support:
APEDA (The Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority, Indian Government) has come up with many circulars and advisories for exporters to make sure that correct steps are taken to avoid any issues in exporting organic products.
Prof Arpita Mukherjee, ICRIER,(Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations ) suggests that “ There are several facets to the MRL challenge that India needs to work on simultaneously. A careful analysis needs to be done for each product and market, to ascertain the bare minimum standards that need to be met. Only then, we can proceed to develop the necessary mechanism to ensure compliance.”
A successful case study:
Product traceability is one potent way to overcome SPS barriers, as has been seen in the case of mangoes, fresh grapes, peanuts and eggplant exports. After facing multiple bans due to MRL issues, grape industry players engaged in comprehensive interactions with APEDA, research centres, regulatory bodies, agronomists, etc. This helped them understand the most appropriate crop management practices to attain desired MRLs. They also expanded the list of chemicals being tested and ensured traceability to the farm level.
How can you make sure you buy from a verified seller and get seamless imports from India?
While these non-tariff barriers and issues from importing from India might look tough to encounter, an even bigger issue arises when you need to select your vendors for your products, communicate with them on several issues and have reliability on their products & their service.
This is where we at Innoveo Exports can be your single source destination for buying agricultural raw materials from India. We identity & partner with capable vendors as well as get all products tested from NABL(National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories) laboratories in India to ensure that the MRL for ETO is less than 0.1 mg for EU, less than 940 mg/kg for the US and less than 7 mg/kg for Canada.
We also follow stringent guidelines based on important metrics like product quality, negotiate on your behalf to provide you with top quality imports at reasonable prices while you can leave all your sourcing worries on us.
While we are currently limited to natural essential oils and related products, we are quickly expanding our portfolio for other agro products and would be happy to take any agricultural raw material enquiry. Reach out to us at vaibhavsharma@innoveoexports.com / +91-9840397958 or rafiq.shaikh@innoveoexports.com / +91 88509 68565
Check out our products at https://www.innoveoexports.com
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