The General Authority of Supplies and Commodities (GASC), Egypt's governmental procurement agency, has expressed interest in importing basic commodities such as wheat and sugar from India. The Indian embassy in Cairo has urged that companies interested in providing wheat to Egypt register with it through any local agent or representative as a first step.
It said that in order to be qualified to enter into a supply contract with GASC, Indian companies must fulfill the relevant formalities.
The details have been shared with active wheat exporters "to commence the process of gaining registration with GASC as soon as possible," according to Chairman M Angamuthu of the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA).
A trade team from Egypt will come to India on April 10 to learn about the country's phytosanitary regime, wheat production systems, grading, monitoring, and control, according to Angamuthu.
The crew will also be trained on storage methods, private and official inspection procedures, and fumigation facilities. According to him, the delegation will be in the nation until April 15 and will visit Punjab, Madhya Pradesh, and Gujarat.
Meanwhile, Cairo has said that imports into Egypt must conform to the National Food Safety Authority's guidelines, which has been taken as a shift in food import restrictions (NFSA). Imports were previously supervised by the General Organization for Export and Import Control.
The NFSA has implemented a food consignment certification procedure that requires imports to be evaluated by a conformity assessment firm such as Intertek for compliance with Egyptian standard standards. One of the benefits of this change is that destination inspections will be decreased.
Egypt may be able to lower quality standards in order to import Indian wheat, according to exporters.
"No official declaration has been made," an exporter said, "but it's likely that the Ergot (fungus infection and toxin) and foreign matter in foodgrain standards would be decreased."
"Egypt has no choice but to modify the restrictions to receive the requisite quantity of wheat," said Delhi-based exporter Rajesh Paharia Jain. Egypt has previously purchased wheat from Russia and Ukraine."
The present crisis between Russia and Ukraine has delayed supplies to Cairo, which has imported over 12 million tons (mt) in recent years.
Because of its low prices, India has emerged as the ideal option. Free-on-board wheat prices in India are around $350 per ton. In comparison, the United States and Europe are offering over $410 per ton, while Argentina is offering $396 per ton f.o.b.
Wheat futures on the Chicago Board of Trade are currently trading at $10.35 per bushel ($380.30 per ton). After Russian troops entered Ukraine on February 24, prices increased by 10%. They've also risen as a result of the bad state of the US harvest.
