Wheat shipments to be allowed with up to 0.05% Ergot fungus: Egypt’s PM

Egypt will allow wheat shipments with up to 0.05 percent ergot fungus, said the country’s prime minister, Sherif Ismail, on Tuesday, according to the state news agency MENA, almost two weeks after two shipments were blocked for containing traces of the fungus.

Earlier this year, the government’s grain buyer GASC had to cancel tender offers for wheat in the international market due to minimal demand and unsuitable prices following the rejection of a French wheat shipment by the Egyptian Quarantine Authority.

Recently, Egypt has been accepting 0.05 percent level of the fungus settling the contention between the quarantine authority that defended a zero tolerance policy and the supply ministry that accepted the international codex set by FAO at up to 0.05 percent.

But the controversy resurfaced this month as Egypt rejected a Polish wheat shipment of 30,000 tonnes and a Canadian wheat shipment of 10,000 tonnes.

source: Ahram Online