Agriculture, Trade ministries working on new regulations for agriculture exports
The ministries of agriculture and trade and industry are working new regulations governing agricultural exports, says Abdel Hamid Al-Demerdash, head of the Agriculture Exports Council. He added that these will set new quality control measures for the goods Egypt exports. Al-Demerdash noted in particular the excessive use pesticides in Egypt’s farming, Al Masry Al Youm reports. The move was apparently undertaken to bans on Egyptian produce of the type we saw both last year (see the Egyptian strawberries Hepatitis A scare) and this year (see our report on peppers yesterday). A delegation from the ministries of trade and industry, agriculture and the Agriculture Export Council is visiting the UAE to discuss reversing that country’s ban on Egyptian pepper, Al Borsa reports.
On a related note, food prices in the UAE are expected to surge following the ban on certain fruit and vegetables from five Middle Eastern companies, Caline Malek writes for The National, with the editorial board saying it is a “short pain for a long gain.” The ban is also expected to pose even more problems during Ramadan with the increased consumption of leafy vegetables, almost all of which came from the Middle East.