India’s export of hazardous goods zooms

Mumbai, March 17 (IANS) Export of hazardous goods from India has zoomed by nearly 70 per cent in seven years, mainly due to superior quality of packaging, testing and other aspects, a top official of the Indian Institute of Packaging said here on Friday.

"Earlier, we used to issue around 7,000 certificates for packaging of hazardous goods; now, it has increased to 12,000 every year," institute Director N.C. Saha said.

He was speaking at a national conference on 'Export Packaging and UN Certification of Hazardous Goods - Testing and Labeling of Bulk Containers' here.

IIP is the sole statutory body in India to certify packaging and issue certificates for exports of all hazardous goods in India.

Saha said hazardous goods are predominantly transported by sea and air and IIP has been authorised by the Director-General of Shipping (DGS) and Director-General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) to test these bulk packages.

"Our job is to assess the quality of packages, ensure they reach the destinations by sea or air without any breakage, seepage or leakage of the hazardous products," Saha said.

Inaugurating the conference, Capt. L. K. Panda, former Nautical Advisor and Additional DGS, said India is becoming a major exporter of chemicals and there is an urgent need to educate exporters-shipper, transporters and receivers of dangerous goods.

IIP Additional Director S.K. Chattopadhyay said dangerous goods or articles pose significant risks to health, safety, property or environment when transported by sea or air.

The CHEMEXCIL's exports data says that export of chemicals which includes dyes, dyes intermediaries, organic and inorganic chemicals, agrochemicals, cosmetics, soaps etc., has shot up from $8,102 million in 2010-2011 to $11,688 in 2015-2016.

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