“Around 50% of the total grain reported at silos visited by a House of Representatives’ fact-finding committee probing the domestic wheat collection figures was missing,” House committee member Galal Awara tell Al Masry Al Youm. Awara does not state how many storage facilities were visited as of Monday. He did, however, rule out rumors that around 30% of the harvest has been lost due to poor storage facilities. Another committee member, Yasser Omar, called into question Supply Minister Khaled Hanafy’s claim that 2 mn tonnes of surplus wheat was achieved. The committee had claimed yesterday to have found evidence of fraud worth more than EGP 365 mn in this year’s harvest.

FEI says it will accept House report, claims media coverage is politically motivated” The Grains Division of the Federation of Egyptian Industries announced that it will accept the committee’s report on corruption in wheat storage facilities, but suggests “media speculation” about corruption in this year’s harvest may be “politically motivated,” AMAY reports.

Meanwhile, resolution on ergot? We may have finally reached the end of the line on Egypt denying entry to imported wheat contaminated with ergot: The Official Gazette carried on Monday the Agriculture Ministry’s directive that Egypt accept ergot contamination as high as 0.05%, in line with the UN FAO standard, Amwal Al Ghad reports. The Agriculture Ministry told Reuters last month that implementation of the decree was delayed due to a months-old judicial order from the prosecutor general banning all ergot from shipments. There is no confirmation whether this order was lifted.