BTI pesticide importer blacklisted by DNCC

Dhaka, Bangladesh (thedailystar.net) — August 19, 2023 — Dhaka North City Corporation has blacklisted Marshal Agrovet Chemical Industries Ltd over anomalies in importing BTI pesticide used in anti-mosquito drive.

It also cancelled the purchase order that was awarded to the company for importing the pesticide, known as Bacillus Thuringiensis Israelensis (BTI), Selim Reza, DNCC chief executive officer, told The Daily Star.

In reply to the show-cause notice from DNCC asking the source of the pesticide, the company claimed that the pesticide was imported from Singaporean company Bestchem.

The DNCC rejected the explanation and formed a three-member body, led by Additional Chief Engineer Mohammad Sharif Uddin, to probe the matter and asked the committee to submit its report within 10 working days, said Selim.

"We will take legal steps against the company after getting the probe report," he said, adding that they stopped trial of the BTI.

He further said they did not pay any money to Marshal Agrovet for supplying the pesticide and would return it to the company.

In another development, the Singaporean company known as Best Chemical Co (S) Pte Ltd (Bestchem) yesterday sent a cease-and-desist letter to Marshal Agrovet, warning of legal action if it persists in such misleading activities using the Bestchem company's name, Johnny Wong, managing director of Bestchem, told this newspaper.

Characterising Marshal's actions as entirely illegal and a grave offence, Wong said, "The issue now is that the product did not undergo the proper registration process. And the product label did not meet the requirements. And the supplier has fraudulently used our company name. This evidence is more than sufficient for the authorities to arrest them."

Talking about the product's effectiveness is no longer important at this point when the supplier is dishonest, he added.

EXPLANATION

As per Marshal Agrovet's explanation, the company said it imported the BTI pesticide through a third party. It claimed that the documents it submitted to the DNCC during the tender process mentioned a deal between Marshal and a Chinese company named Shandong Ganon Agrochemical, through which the pesticide would be imported.

However, the company failed to provide any relevant documents with the explanation letter whether it bought the pesticide from Bestchem directly or via the third party, said DNCC sources.

Responding to these claims, Wong said, "As I've mentioned, we have never sold five tonnes of BTI to anyone in the world."

Marshal Agrovet, which imported the pesticide, does not have the importing licence. Despite this, the company participated in an open tender and emerged as the lowest bidder. Subsequently, the company was given the job to import the pesticide.

It has now emerged that the company did not import the pesticide from Singapore as it claimed. Instead, it took the product from a Chinese company although tender documents clearly say the BTI must be imported either from the US, EU countries, Singapore, India, and Malaysia.

Earlier this week, Bestchem went on Facebook to refute Marshal Agrovet's claim that the product was procured from it.

After media reports on the alleged scam, DNCC on August 14 served a show-cause notice on Marshal Agrovet and sought information about the source of the larvicide.

DNCC opened an e-tender on April 11 for the import of the BTI in an effort to tame the breeding of Aedes mosquitoes that carry the dengue virus.

Source: thedailystar.net/news/bangladesh/news/bti-pesticide-importer-blacklisted-dncc-3397441