The government has rejected 50,000 tonnes of wheat supplied by Dubai-based Phoenix Commodities as the shipment contained “foreign material” higher than the limit specified in the contract.

The consignment, which came from Russia earlier this month, had 1.08 percent of foreign materials against the upper limit of 0.7 percent, according to Ilahi Dad Khan, director of procurement at the Directorate General of Food.

Foreign materials are an important factor in grading and classifying grains. Foreign materials are sand, pieces of rocks, plastics particles, metals and pieces of glass, contaminating a particular lot of grains.

The contract to procure 50,000 tonnes of wheat at $233.96 per tonne was signed in January, under the government's new specifications, which were tightened after two lakh tonnes of substandard wheat arrived from Brazil last year.

The refusal came after the Directorate General of Food carried out a laboratory test by taking a wheat sample from the ship that carried the consignment. It found that the foreign material component did not conform to the contract specifications.

However, the sample passed almost all the other quality parameters laid out in the contract. Contacted, Saad Ahmed Chowdhury, country representative of Phoenix Commodities, said the test found a higher proportion of foreign materials due to “wrong sampling”.

He said wheat shifts in the holds during voyage and the foreign material, which tends to be lighter, moves to the top of the holds due to vibrations during transportation.

Chowdhury said there should be an option for a second test in an independent laboratory.

In a letter to the Directorate General of Food, Phoenix said the wheat was of “very good” quality and in “good condition”.

Wheat gets cleaned prior to milling, so the higher percentage of foreign matter would not impact the grain's quality, according to the letter.

Subsequently, the supplier has asked the food directorate to show “flexibility within reason”.

Citing a clause of the contract on dispute settlement, Phoenix also requested the food office for a meeting to arrive at an amicable settlement.

In reply, the food directorate said the clause of the contract is not applicable after rejection.

The latest refusal followed rejections of 1.2 lakh tonnes of wheat consignments from France last year after the grain turned out to be below the quality parameters maintained by the food ministry.