The Egyptian authorities will decide next week on whether to continue wheat deliveries from Romania, only after the holiday Eid al-Adha, which ends on September 4, legal sources told Reuters.
The prosecution in Egypt analyzes this case after inspectors with the Authority for Quarantine halted a ship that transported 63,000 tones of wheat in Safaga port for contamination with poppy seeds, said the Egyptian Agriculture Ministry. The wheat comes from the firm Cerealcom Dolj, according to a source close to this case.
Previously, a source had told for Reuters that the prosecution in Egypt would probably reject and re-export the wheat, which had been acquired by the General Authority for Supply (GASC) from Egypt, the entity responsible for the strategic acquisition of wheat for the Egyptian state.
If it’s re-exported, it will be the first delivery of wheat acquired by GASC, which will have the access banned in an Egyptian port, after the ban of a wheat delivery from France in 2015 due to the high level of ergots ( parasite fungus of several cereals). The traders warn that any rejection of a wheat delivery will make again the suppliers reticent of making business with Egypt.
The Romanian authorities and the traders’ representatives say there is no official information about the rejection of a deliver of 63,000 tones of wheat from Romania.