Egypt exports 100K tons of grapes to China: CCTV

CAIRO - 22 July 2017: China’s decision to allow the import of Egyptian grapes has a positive impact on China’s farmers, traders as well as government, state-run China Central Television (CCTV) said in a report on Saturday.

The channel said that 100,000 tons of Egyptian grapes have been exported to the Chinese markets and that some 105,000 tons will be exported in the coming period, according to the contract signed with the Egyptian government.

China’s approval of importing Egyptian grapes is a good “gesture” to start a bigger system that includes all Egyptian products exported abroad so as to consider benefiting from the Egyptian product, Chinese experts told CCTV.

The channel said that China’s decision reflects a “big” trust in the Egyptian agricultural products.

In mid-July, the Chinese General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ) agreed to open the Chinese markets to Egyptian grapes for the first time.

In a press release, the Egyptian Agriculture Export Council (AEC) said the step came after two years of intense negotiations with China. Egypt started exporting citrus fruits to China in 2014.

The Egyptian ministries of agriculture and trade issued a collaborative decision in May to put forward an integrated system that would organize both the production and export of Egyptian vegetables and fruits.

The system will guarantee that these exports are safe by ensuring their commitment to technical requirements such as the removal of pesticide residues, which caused a number of countries to impose a ban on some Egyptian yields in the past.