Pet food supplies stuck at Indian ports
Pet food brands including Iams, Propac, Sportmix and Purina are flying off retail shelves and not getting replaced, as containers with pet food stocks have been stuck at the Mumbai and Chennai ports in India for about six months, an importer said.
This follows the Government’s blanket ban on stocks coming from bird-flu-hit
countries, he added. Earlier last year, importers brought in products, as the
Union Animal Husbandry Ministry directive targeted countries reporting high
pathogenic cases. This was later extended to low pathogenic cases too.
No health hazard
Caught in this net are importers
including Alliances International, Bharat International, Scientific Remedies and
Purina Petcare, part of the Nestle group. The importers have explained to the
Centre that pet food is processed at 70 degrees centigrade and does not pose a
health hazard, said Ms Payal Bhatia of Alliances.
The importer takes a
double hit, because of the value of stocks held up and the penalty he has to pay
at the ports. With stocks stuck for six months, the importer pays penalty
charges of Rs 8,000 per day, said an importer.
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