Egypt rejected Indian wheat shipment for health concerns, collected 3.7 mln tons from farmers: Min.

CAIRO – 8 June 2022: The Egyptian state rejected a wheat shipment from India out of concerns over the health of the Egyptian people, Minister of Agriculture El-Sayed El-Quseir said in a press conference at the cabinet’s headquarters on Wednesday.

So far, Egypt has collected around 3,740,000 tons of local wheat from farmers during the ongoing wheat season.

The Indian wheat shipment that Egypt rejected earlier this month, according to media reports, was earlier rejected by Turkish authorities for not meeting health standards.

The Egyptian ports reportedly rejected receiving the shipment, which comprised 55,000 tons of wheat, after examining the grain.

In mid-April, the Egyptian government has announced India as a new wheat supplier to minimize the effects of the ongoing Russian-Ukraine crisis on Egypt’s grain stockpile.

Earlier this week, Head of the Central Administration for Plant Quarantine at the Ministry of Agriculture Ahmed al-Attar announced that Egypt received its first Indian wheat shipment which meet health specifications.

Minister of Supply Ali El-Moselhi said in May that an agreement has been reached to buy 500,000 tons of wheat from India but has not yet been signed.

Amid disruption in food supply globally, Egypt, which used to depend on Russia and Ukraine for 80 percent of its wheat imports, contracted to purchase 465,000 tons of wheat from Romania, Bulgaria as well as Russia.

The Egyptian General Authority for Supply Commodities said the quantities of wheat as per the contract include a total of 175,000 tons from Russia, 240,000 tons from Romania, and 50,000 tons from Bulgaria.