Egypt hires experts to examine imported wheat

The Egyptian Ministry of Agriculture and Land Reclamation announced yesterday that Egypt had struck a deal with Swiss agricultural inspection giant SGS to examine imported wheat shipments at the country of origin to confirm compliance with Egyptian standards.

According to the ministry’s statement, the inspections will screen for ergot fungus infected wheat shipments and will comply with standards Egypt set out in 2010. The inspections will also supervise the tender process for companies wishing to import wheat to Egypt.

Last Wednesday, Egypt announced its retraction on a previous decision which banned imported wheat infected with ergot, allowing for a safety margin of 0.05 per cent for the fungus. Egyptian officials denied that this margin would be a threat to public health.

The Egyptian backtracking came after the cancellation of the government tender to import wheat for the third consecutive time, as no companies offered any wheat that adhered to the new standards.