Japanese delegation to open Tokyo markets to Egyptian citrus: official

CAIRO - 8 December 2019: Head of the Central Department of Agricultural Quarantine Ahmed al-Attar said a delegation of the Japanese agricultural quarantine authorities will visit Cairo to get acquainted with the export requirements ahead of opening their markets to Egyptian citrus exports.

“The delegation will visit a number of citrus farms and filling and sorting stations, and will be introduced to the system used in agricultural exports for all world markets,” Attar said.

Attar told Egypt Today on Saturday that opening more foreign markets to Egyptian agricultural exports comes aso ne of the main tasks of the Central Departmentof Agricultural Quarantine.

Attar pointed out that the recent visit of the Egyptian agricultural delegation to Japan ensured the access of Egyptian citrus fruits to the country through the application of the international phytosanitary requirements of the Japanese market.

The Egyptian delegation also visited the Japanese ports and airports and stressed that the Japanese side has a strict agricultural quarantine.

During the visit, a meeting was held between the two delegations on the conditions and mechanisms of opening the Japanese market to Egyptian citrus and on studying the possibility of opening the Japanese market to other agricultural products in the future.

In January, the Cabinet's media center denied reports on a drop in Egypt's agricultural exports of citrus fruits, clarifying that Egypt's exports of citrus fruits had surged in 2018, as Egypt is reportedly the world's second exporter of citrus fruits.

In December 2018, Attar said that citrus fruits and potatoes are the most exported types in Egypt in 2018, adding that the country has exported about 1.7 million tons of citrus fruits since the beginning of the year.

He added that the country also exported around 800,000 tons of potatoes since the beginning of 2018.