Egypt's Minister of Agriculture Mr. El-Sayed El-Quseir revealed that India is being accredited by the Agriculture Quarantine and Pest Risk Analysis (PRA) to export wheat to Egypt.
"India is officially listed on the list of countries that will serve as alternative sources of wheat for Egypt as the Russia-Ukraine conflict continues," said El-Quseir.
The decision comes just two days after Egypt’s Agriculture Ministry sent an official delegation to India on Monday in order to explore possibilities of sourcing grain from India to meet domestic demand.
According to the ministry, a number of high-ranking officials and experts from the agriculture quarantine and pest risk analysis of Egypt, which imported 6.1 million tonnes (mt) of wheat in 2021, paid a visit on Monday to port facilities, processing units, and farms in Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, and Punjab.
The latest five-day visit to India follows trade talks and meetings with various wheat-importing countries that are exploring possibilities of sourcing the grain from alternative sources as supplies have been disrupted because of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, the ministry noted.
India's Agricultural and Processed Food Products Exports Development Authority (APEDA) has lately communicated in this regard with India’s wheat exporters to register with Egypt’s public procurement agency, the General Authority of Supplies and Commodities, which manages wheat and sugar imports to the north African country.
It's worth mentioning that Egypt, which had imported around 81% of its wheat imports estimated to be close to $2 billion from Russia and Ukraine in 2021, expressed during the past two weeks its keenness to procure a significant amount of wheat from India.
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