November 10, 2009

Egypt-destined wheat inspected by officials at ports of origin will not be re-inspected by the agriculture quarantine once it arrives in Egypt, the Arab country's trade minister said.

 

While the wheat won't face retesting from the agriculture quarantine authority, it will still face examination from the ministry of health and the General Organization For Imports and Exports Control, or GOIEC, upon arrival at Egyptian ports.

 

The ministry of trade and industry said this month that wheat imported into Egypt could be inspected by agriculture quarantine officials in the country of origin to prevent any delays unloading it upon arrival in Egypt. The announcement came after a series of incidents in which Egypt detained imported wheat at ports for containing impurities.

 

Traders had questioned the logistics of arranging visas and flying Egyptian agricultural quarantine officials to foreign ports to inspect the wheat in the country of origin and whether the process would slow down the import process.

 

Trade Minister Rachid Mohamed Rachid said the tests in the country of origin would follow the same procedures as tests conducted within Egypt. Egypt has said international trading houses must pay for quarantine officials to come to inspect the wheat.

 

"Same test that they do here they will do there which will facilitate things. This means that the shipments when they come here won't be tested by the agriculture quarantine. They will be tested only at the origin," said Rachid told Dow Jones Newswires in a recent interview.

 

The minister said that it is also in the government interest to have goods delivered on time and it is working with the agriculture ministry to facilitate the matter.

 

"This is also our interest it is not only the exporter. We also want to have a steady supply of goods. We are working with the ministry of agriculture to ensure that this moves smoothly," the minister said.

 

In late October, a shipment of US wheat held for extra testing at an Egyptian port resumed discharging.

 

The shipment, being delivered by Cargill Inc to Egypt's state wheat-buyer the General Authority for Supply Commodities, or GASC, wasn't allowed to complete discharging after an initial sample showed it contained more than the legal limit of seeds.

 

In mid-October, another shipment containing 63,000 tonnes of French wheat was released after treatment. It was seized for containing 44 poisonous and impure seeds a kilogramme.

 

The delayed discharge of the wheat follows months of increased scrutiny of wheat imports into Egypt, after authorities quarantined 52,501 tonnes of Russian wheat in May, because it found weed seeds and dead insects in the grain.