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Record $1 Million Contract Confirms Momentum

Record $1 Million Contract Confirms Positive Momentum


Statement made by David Warrick, Managing Director, Certified Organics Limited


Certified Organics has confirmed a contract for its Interceptor™ Seed Eradicator (Interceptor) product worth close to $1 million from the Government of South Australia.

The contract is its biggest single sale on record and amounts to more than Certified Organics’ total Interceptor sales for 2005. Shipments will commence in the next few weeks and be fully completed within the first half of the year.

The Government of South Australia has been an early adopter of Certified Organics’ Seed Eradicator product, using it in its Branched Broomrape eradication programme.

The order is three times larger than the Government’s order placed in 2005 and reinforces the success realised in using Certified Organics’ product to eradicate the parasitic weed that affects around three percent of the world’s arable land.

The Government contract illustrates the potential Interceptor has in the global market for commercial use by private and public organisations.

Interceptor’s success in South Australia has attracted interest from government agencies looking for solutions to their own problems with Branched Broomrape. Certified Organics is now supporting the initial stages of similar projects in the European Union.

The Department of Water, Land and Biodiversity Conservation of the Government of South Australia trialed a number of alternatives for eradicating Branched Broomrape, before picking the Interceptor product for wider use.

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Interceptor replaces old-style soil fumigation systems, which have been phased out internationally because of their negative impact on the environment. Customer benefits of Interceptor include:

- Flexibility in methods of application by ground rig, or by helicopter, especially for inaccessible areas, unstable soils, cliff faces etc.

- No requirements to remove native vegetation before application, preventing soil erosion in areas of fragile soils

- Kills the seeds of the weed both in the ground, before germination and on the seed head of the flower before it has the chance to spread


The Interceptor contract is the latest in a series of positive announcements from Certified Organics, following a restructuring programme and the acquisition of the New Zealand Nature company.

ENDS


Branch Broomrape (“Orobanche Ramosa”) is a parasitic weed originating in the Middle East. The weed decimates yields from crops its attacks, using them as a food source. Because it represents such a threat to agriculture, it is noted by the World Trade Organization as a proscribed plant.

Each plant can produce over half a million seeds, which can last in the ground for over 10 years before germinating.

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