News
03.09.2009
Egypt's GASC tightens wheat quality specifications
Egypt's main state wheat buyer, the General Authority for Supply Commodities (GASC), said on Wednesday it had tightened some quality specifications for its wheat purchases. GASC raised the test weight requirement for US wheat to 58.5 lb a bushel from 58 lb/bushel and its minimum protein content requirement by half a percentage point to 9.5 percent, vice chairman Nomani Nomani told Reuters.
"This is just a normal procedure to try to make specifications for US origin equal to what we demand of other origins," Nomani said. Egypt, the world's top wheat importer, requires a minimum protein content of 11.5 percent for Russian wheat and 11 percent for French wheat, Nomani said.
GASC also spelt out a maximum cadmium and lead content of 0.2 percent and set pesticide and fumigation residues at a maximum of 0.1 percent for wheat of all origins. The new tender terms also state bids should take into account the rules and regulations of the Egyptian quarantine services.
Reuters
