Consignment of carcinogenic coconut oil loaded onto ‘Barbara’

A consignment of carcinogenic coconut oil imported from Malaysia has been loaded onto the shipping vessel ‘Barbara’ anchored at the SAGT Terminal in Colombo Port.

Media Spokesperson and Deputy Director of Sri Lanka Customs Sudaththa Silva stated that the process commenced at 9.30 am this morning (April 12).

Six containers of unrefined coconut oil imported by Katana Refineries are being re-exported in this manner.

On April 6, the consignment of coconut oil was taken from the importer’s private warehouse to the Colombo Port under the supervision of Customs officials.

On the instructions of Director General of Customs Major General (Retired) Vijitha Ravipriya, a team of officers from the Customs Preventive Directorate and the Customs Central Cargo Examination Directorate will visit the SAGT Terminal to monitor the re-shipment process.

Shipping vessel ‘Barbara’ carrying the consignment of coconut oil is scheduled to leave the Colombo Port for Malaysia at 5.00 pm today.

It was recently revealed that stocks of unrefined coconut oil imported by 03 companies - Ali Brothers, Edirisinghe Edible Oil, and Katana Refineries - contained the carcinogen Aflatoxin. It was confirmed through a second test that the relevant coconut oil stocks contain high levels of Aflatoxin.

Thereby, the Sri Lanka Customs ordered the relevant companies to re-export their coconut oil stocks.