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Christchurch-based Syft Technologies is hailing a deal to supply instruments into the European container fumigant testing market as a breakthrough contract.
The company said yesterday it had signed a deal with a Rotterdam-based Dutch fumigant detection company, a leading player in the international container fumigation and testing market.
The company said sales success in the EU container space had eluded it until now.
Its air testing application was providing protection to Australian and Canadian Customs staff, ensuring containers being entered for inspection were clear from toxic gases often used to eliminate bio-security hazards.
Syft international sales manager John Billows said concerns for worker health and safety had increased in Holland and Belgium, particularly during the past 18 months with several television and newspaper articles highlighting the dangers of fumigants.
High profile cases of worker poisoning had brought the issue to the forefront of public interest, Billows said.
"This has allowed our message to be received well in these quarters and has led to this very important first sale into the sector in Europe which we now are confident will lead to further success in other European ports."
Also, Syft's Benelux distributor Interscience was lobbying politicians and raising the profile of Syft as part a bid to have Syft's instruments accepted as the gold standard in Europe for container air analysis.
Syft, formed in 2002 as a hi-tech spin off from the University of Canterbury, is traded on the Unlisted trading platform. Its shares last sold in late-January for 7.5c, down from high of 11c during the past year.
- NZPA