CAIRO: Egypt, the world’s largest wheat importer, will send agricultural quarantine officials to inspect imported wheat at ports of origin starting from its next purchase at international tender, a Trade Ministry adviser said.
Traders said they had been informed of the new policy and that suppliers would bear the cost of the inspection visits.
“It will be applied as of the next tender, the ministry’s Hesham Ragab told Reuters on Wednesday, adding that the new stipulation will be added to the bidding document.
Quarantine officials have stepped up inspections since wheat shipments came under intense scrutiny in June, when controversy erupted over the quality of two Russian wheat cargoes. The two shipments were subsequently ordered to be re-exported.
French and US wheat shipments have been held up in Egyptian ports in the past two months for further inspection by agricultural quarantine officials after initial testing showed an excessive amount of seeds per kilogram. All the wheat was subsequently released after a delay.
Traders said the testing process taking place at Egyptian ports has postponed the release of several wheat cargoes and the new regulation could be a possible solution to the problem.
