We will remind that recently the Ministry of agriculture of Egypt, with the approval of the Prime Minister of the country banned the import of any wheat content of ergot is above the zero level, which caused a sharp rejection in the trading environment.

The Codex Alimentarius, or Food Code, developed jointly by FAO and the world health organization, sets of 0.05% as the maximum permissible level of ergot in bread wheat.

FAO had previously asked the Ministry of agriculture of Egypt to conduct a risk assessment on ergot, to put an end to interdepartmental disputes that lasted more than six months.

The quarantine service of Egypt began to refuse acceptance of consignments of wheat with traces of ergot in the end of last year, causing panic in the grain market.

Risk analysis of ergot are carried out by the FAO, was one of the factors that led to the emergence of the July decree authorizing the importation of wheat ergot content not higher than 0.05%. However, yesterday, the FAO representatives said that every country has the right to set their own standards.

The July decree of the Ministry of agriculture of Egypt, which was based on international standards, allowed to expand a circle of participants of procurement tenders of GASC, gave grounds to the organizers of tenders to achieve lower prices. The August order can create a big problem for such importing country like Egypt.