November 29, 2011

Egypt may import wheat from Hungary and Bulgaria

The Egyptian government is considering adding Hungary and Bulgaria to its official list of wheat providers, according to official sources.

The sources told that a government panel formed by the industries of agriculture, health, social solidarity, and industry and foreign trade has received requests from Hungary and Bulgaria to allow their wheat to be imported.

The Egyptian panel has given its tentative approval to the request, but wants to first examine the wheat quality in both countries first-hand to determine whether their prices match international rates, the same sources said.

By traveling to the producing countries, the sources said, the government panel will resolve Egypt's prior problems with importing wheat. Previous delegations from Egyptian agricultural bodies used to travel to exporting countries to examine the wheat, but upon importing it the health and industry and foreign trade ministries would give conflicting results on sample examinations of the produce. This often forced Egypt to return the shipments to their source countries, causing losses for Egyptian importers.