The three-story laboratory and administrative building is one of the most up-to-date facilities in Ukraine. It is equipped (according to the highest world standards) with high-precision laboratory and research equipment.
The grain receipt and sampling methods from road transport are unique in Ukraine. As the laboratory has the capacity to take and sample from three lines of road transport simultaneously, it increases the speed of grain quality analysis accordingly without stopping cargo flow, thereby tripling the terminal’s traffic capacity.
“The qualified specialists determine grain quality indices and safety, GMO-presence at the modern laboratory using high-precision equipment and high-quality chemical reagents”, said Hanna Kara, deputy head of the production and technological laboratory for chemical and biological researches. “The duration of grain quality analysis depends on its type and lasts from 5 minutes to 1 hour.
The safety of grain and oilseeds is determined in the following areas:
content of mycotoxins (aflatoxins, ochratoxin A, zearalenone);
residual amount of pesticides;
content of toxic elements and radionuclides;
presence or absence of GMO in grain and oilseeds is determined in accordance with the List of Food Products approved in Ukraine;
content of protein in grain and oilseeds and fatty acid composition;
the laboratory determines content of oils in oilseeds by express methods and chemical method using standard methods recognized throughout the world.
The object of analysis is not only grain, leguminous and oilseed crops, but also food products. Depending on the number of samples and safety indicators checked, the analysis lasts from 5 hours to 3 days”.
The laboratory is equipped with the devices from the leading producers of the world, such as:
Infratec 1241 grain analyzer, Infratec NOVA, Kjeltec 8400 analyzer from Swedish company FOSS Analytical AB;
GAC 2100 grain moisture tester, Instalab 700 analyzer to measure glucosinolate in rapeseeds from Dickey John (the USA);
FALLING NUMBER 1900, FALLING NUMBER 1500, FALLING NUMBER 1000 devices to measure falling number, ML 3310 laboratory mill, Glutomatyk system from Swedish company Perten Instrument;
NG alveograph-consistograph from Chopin Technologies for comprehensive determination of rheological properties of flour.
The chemical division of the laboratory uses the best high-precision equipment, such as Dionex Ultimate 3000 liquid chromatography (Germany), Agilent 7890А gas chromatographs (the USA), AA240Z and AA240FS atomic absorption spectrophotometers from Varian (Australia).
The international recognition and cooperation with international and state agents when exporting grain products encourages NIBULON’s employees to constantly improve their knowledge, to participate in international programs, etc.
Our laboratory is certified by Mykolaiv Regional Center of Standardization, Metrology and Certification SE to carry out measurements in compliance with the certification branch (certificate No. РН-0056/2015 dated June 5, 2015 is valid to June 5, 2019); accredited by the National Accreditation Agency of Ukraine to carry out physical-chemical and molecular genetic tests of grain, leguminous and oil crops (certificate 2Т1082 dated December 7, 2017 is valid to December 6, 2022). The production and technological laboratory confirms its competence in carrying out measurements during scheduled inspection of the National Accreditation Agency of Ukraine. The laboratory is acknowledged by the Grain and Feed Trade Association (GAFTA); every six months it successfully participates in inter-laboratory comparative rounds, which gives the opportunity to receive GAFTA certificate (issued on December 1, 2017 and valid to May 31, 2018), BEPIA certificate issued on November 17, 2017 and valid to June 1, 2018 to perform measurements of grain. The competence in measuring presence of GMO and safety indicators is confirmed by the international rounds of inter-laboratory comparative measurements FAPAS, GeMMA: Zoia Spyrydonova, a chemical research engineer – BEPIA and GAFTA (on quality indicators: protein, oil, moisture content); Vadym Rotaienko, a chemical research engineer – BEPIA (on safety indicators: fatty acid composition of oilseeds); Anna Loiko and Yanina Kotova, chemical research engineers – GAFTA and FAPAS (on mycotoxins content); Tetiana Hrachova, a senior laboratory assistant on biological researches – FAPAS (on presence, identification and content of GMO)”, proudly stated Nadiia Katsevych, a head of the production and technological laboratory of the transshipment terminal in Mykolaiv.
Since 2013, NIBULON has been successfully undergoing audits annually. It renews its ISCC EU certificate on the basis of these audits, which enables it to export grain to the EU to produce biofuel and bioethanol.
“Our laboratory employs highly qualified employees with higher education who undergo advanced training courses. Each year, training of the laboratory staff is carried out by the product quality department on the basis of the terminal’s laboratory”, added Hanna Kara.
The exchange of experience with foreign delegations, training of the company’s specialists abroad, and training of foreign specialists on the basis of the laboratory of NIBULON’s transshipment terminal have already become usual things. As a result, today NIBULON is able to meet the strictest requirements of the recipient countries of agricultural products. The main purpose of this exchange of experience is to adapt Ukrainian state quality standards to international standards.
It should be noted that NIBULON is the first company in Ukraine that implemented American standards and technology for corn processing. Until 2003, Ukrainian corn wasn’t in demand in the world grain market. NIBULON have studied why domestic products were not in demand in the world market, and corn produced by the USA and Argentina was supplied to Egypt and the countries of the Middle East. Our specialists undergone training at Egyptian laboratories. We purchased equipment from American and leading world producers, implemented American standards and technologies. So NIBULON opened the markets of Egypt for Ukraine and started to ship corn to this country for the first time. Today, Ukraine grows about 30 million tons of this crop, and NIBULON, since 2003, has remained one of the leaders in corn exports.
In March 2017, a delegation from the Arab Republic of Egypt consisting of specialists of the Ministry of Trade and Industry, Central Administration of Plant Quarantine accompanied by representatives of the State Food Safety and Consumer Protection Service of Ukraine and Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) visited NIBULON’s facilities; the company is the largest supplier of agricultural products to Egypt. The terminal’s production and technological laboratory that is equipped with modern laboratory and research equipment for determining quality indices and research activities with grain and its products attracted attention of the specialists in plant quarantine and control of Egypt.
“We were pleasantly surprised by everything we have seen today starting with the equipped laboratory and the company’s facilities and ending with professionalism of the laboratory assistants and all employees both of the transshipment terminal and the shipbuilding yard, who are fully committed to their job. It’s a great experience for us. We will try to learn and adapt in Egypt the level of progress NIBULON has achieved. The advanced level of quality control inspires confidence in cargoes NIBULON exports to Egypt”, shared her impressions Head of Central Administration of Plant Quarantine of Egypt Dr. Naglaa Moussa Balabel.
Excellent quality of grain is a visiting card of NIBULON; thanks to it the world recognizes not only NIBULON, but also Ukraine. The company plans to continue to work in accordance with the highest standards and to strive for higher results exporting agricultural products of high quality.
