Following Egypt's implementation of very rigorous inspection standards for its strawberry exports, the EU has removed additional import controls placed on Egyptian strawberries, said Agriculture Ministry spokesman Hamed Abdel Dayem in a statement on Thursday.
The tight EU regulations were introduced amid agricultural export bans on a number of Egyptian crops due to pesticide residues, Hamed Abdel Dayem said, not specifying when the controls were first put in place.
According to english.ahram.org.eg, the EU's European Commission said on Tuesday that Egyptian strawberries were removed from a list of imported animal feed and food of non-animal origin, subject to the increased level of official controls.
The decision came after "available information indicated an overall satisfactory degree of compliance with the relevant safety requirements provided for in Union legislation and for which an increased level of official controls is therefore no longer justified," it said on the European Union's official website.
Even though it's off season when it comes to strawberries, Emad Yacoub, Vice Chairman of Nivex, claims lifting the additional controls will definitely have an impact: "The new season starts in November and we export a lot of our strawberries to the UK and Germany. Without the restrictions there's a chance we will have less costs than we did before, which helps the market."
