[Cindy]

Hi Yosemitest.

I don’t know if you had a chance to read the original article in post no. 1. If not, read it — it’s interesting.

Here’s a small quote from the article:

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/jan/27/pakistani-fertilizer-firm-expand-us-despite-balkin/

SNIPPET: “He called Fatima “less than cooperative” in even instituting minimal controls on calcium ammonium nitrate, or CAN, a fertilizing compound that has been used in 70 percent of the homemade explosives deployed against U.S. troops.

Fatima is the only Pakistani producer of CAN, which is illegal to import into in Afghanistan.”

[Cboldt]

I'm not so interested that I'll go researching for the important facts, but I notice an absence of description of what these "minimal measures" that the CAN producer is failing to take. They are a manufacturer, not a border control agency. I suspect they sell through distribution.

Not taking sides, but when the US government guy says the company is being "less than cooperative," well, I think the US guy is hiding the ball. I don't trust people who hide the ball.

[Yosemitest]

Okay, I read it.
Die is not the only marker that could be used.
None dissolve-able pellets with a marking code could be used,
and metallic so that could be easy to find when the fertilizer is properly used in a field.
I believe most of the ammonium nitrate used in the U.S. comes from sewage treatment plants.