Egyptian prosecutors announced on Sunday that they have approved a decision to sift the wheat delivered by Romania, which was previously rejected by the Cairo Quarantine Authority on grounds that it contains poppy seeds, Reuters reports, quoted by Romanian media.
The sifting will separate wheat seeds, an official from the Ministry of Agriculture said on Sunday. He added that a ship loaded in France with wheat, which also contained poppy seeds, is still ongoing checks.
Egypt, the world’s largest wheat buyer, has raised concerns among traders over the last few weeks after refusing entry into the country of two ships loaded with wheat on the grounds that they contain poppy seeds. One of these ships, which has been put on hold last month, has on board 63,000 tons of wheat from Romania, from Cerealcom Dolj.
This month, Egypt’s General Supply Authority (GASC), the entity responsible for strategic wheat purchases on behalf of the Egyptian state, has come to the conclusion that the poppy seeds in the wheat originating in Romania and France are not harmful, adding that the wheat will be sifted.