Egypt exports 100K tons of grapes this season: AEC

CAIRO – 5 August 2017: Egypt exported more than 100,000 tons of grapes this season, Head of the Agricultural Export Council (AEC) Abdel-Hamid Demerdash said Saturday.

He said that this year’s export season was “very good”, especially after the successful negotiations with China, which allowed Egyptian grapes to enter the Chinese market for the first time.

He added that an Egyptian delegation will visit Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and Kuwait, before the start of the new export season, to discuss the ban that these countries imposed on some of Egypt’s 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. The move came after two years of negotiations with China.

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 goods in the past.