COLOMBO, SRI LANKA — Sri Lanka stepped into a world of hurt when it rejected a shipment of organic fertilizer from China, saying the Chinese fertilizer contains dangerous bacteria.
Here are the details: The BBC reports that Sri Lanka has sparked a diplomatic tussle with China by banning a shipment of Chinese organic fertilizer and ordering the shipment to be returned to China.
The tussle started after the Sri Lankan government suddenly banned chemical fertilizers for health reasons in May and allowed only organic fertilizers to be imported.
The government later banned the shipment of 20,000 tons of organic fertilizer from Chinese biotech company Qingdao Seawin Bio-tech, saying that testing found dangerous bacteria in the organic fertilizer.
The Sri Lankan government also ordered state-owned People's Bank to stop a payment of nine million dollars for the cargo.
The Chinese embassy in Sri Lanka responded by blacklisting the bank for not honoring the payment.
Meanwhile, the Chinese company rejected the testing authority’s test results and refused to take back the cargo, leaving the ship anchored off the coast of Sri Lanka.
Sri Lankan farmers are protesting their government’s handling of the situation, saying the resulting fertilizer shortage will lead to a much reduced harvest.
Sri Lankan officials say the Chinese fertilizer contains bacteria that are harmful to certain crops.
They insist that since the cargo has implications for the bio-security of the country, it cannot be accepted.