Egypt re-allows 0.05% ergot fungus in wheat

Egypt has aligned itself with the international standard to allow 0.05 percent of ergot fungus in imported wheat, the state-run Ahram Arabic news website reported on Wednesday.

The decision reversed a previous zero-tolerance policy which caused confusion in markets.

In August, the minister of agriculture Essam Fayed issued a decision to forbid any imported wheat shipment that contains any traces of the fungus.

However, the Egyptian government said on Wednesday that the zero-ergot policy has led to the delay in arrival of 540,000 tonnes of imported grain to Egypt, the world's biggest wheat importer, Ahram reported.

Since February, conflicting decisions made by the General Authority for Supply Commodities, the state's grain buyer, and the agricultural authorities over standard of the fungus caused confusions among suppliers, driving some of them to boycott tenders.

Ergot can cause hallucinations when consumed in large amounts. The most widely applied international standard sets a 0.05 percent tolerance level of the fungus.

The Egyptian minister of health Ahmed Emad also said on Wednesday the imported wheat will be purified and washed to cut the ratio to zero.

The most populous Arab country relies heavily on imported wheat to meet domestic demands.

Egypt's wheat imports for the 2015-16 marketing year were estimated at 11 million tonnes, the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization showed in October 2015.

Source : XINHUA