Saudi Arabia to lift ban on Egyptian guava in 2 months

CAIRO – 7 April 2018: Saudi Arabia is expected to lift its ban on Egyptian fresh guava in two-month time, Head of the Agriculture Export Council Abdel Hamid el-Demerdash said Saturday.

He said he expects the ban to be lifted by the end of May, saying that negotiations are underway with Saudi Arabia over the issue.

Saudi Arabia received the last shipment of Egyptian fresh guava in January 2018, after which it banned imports of guava from Egypt because some of the shipments contained high pesticide residues.

Last week, the Saudi Food and Drug Authority (SFDA) lifted the ban on imports of Egyptian strawberries and peppers to Saudi Arabia.

Demerdash said that lifting the ban came after the Saudi authorities were informed of the implementation of the new system by Egypt’s Trade Ministry to inspect exports.

Saudi Arabia has earlier banned imports of strawberries and peppers from Egypt over high pesticide residues.

Demerdash said that inspection of shipments will be intensified in the coming period so as not to face the same crisis, adding that Saudi Arabia is one of the most important markets in the Gulf for Egyptian exports.

Egypt’s pepper and strawberry exports to the Gulf kingdom in the first nine months of the export season (September 2016-August 2017) stood at 15,000 tons and 39,000 tons respectively.

Bahrain, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates and Jordan have recently lifted their bans on imports of Egyptian lettuce, guava, onions, pepper and potatoes, which were suspended because of their high pesticide residues.

Egypt’s exports of agricultural products increased three percent in 2017 to reach $2.2 billion, compared to $2.1 billion in 2016.

In February, exports increased to $256 million after an eight percent decline in January.