Egypt bets on oranges to boost exports to Japan

CAIRO — The Egyptian Ministry of Agriculture announced Nov. 2 that Japan has agreed to import citrus fruits, including oranges. The announcement comes after lengthy negotiations between the two sides that extended over several years.

Egyptian Minister of Agriculture Al-Sayed Al-Qusayr said in a press statement on the same day that the Central Administration of Plant Quarantine affiliated with the Egyptian Ministry of Agriculture intensified in 2019 its negotiations with the Japanese side, adding that an action plan has been agreed upon for the export process to start once the necessary legislative and executive measures in Japan are completed. The negotiations ended with the Japanese side’s approval to open the Japanese market to a variety of citrus fruits from Egypt.

According to a report issued Feb. 14 by Aswaq Financial Co., an Egyptian stock market company providing financial information to the Egyptian market, Egypt remained at the top of the list of orange-exporting countries in 2019 for the second year in a row, with 38% of the world's total exports. Egypt exports 50% of its domestic production, which amounted to 3.42 million tons in 2019, according to the report.

Ahmed el-Attar, head of the Central Administration of Plant Quarantine, told Al-Monitor, “After nearly 11 years of negotiations, this is the first time that Japan agrees to import citrus fruits from Egypt. We stepped up negotiations last year after an Egyptian delegation — which I headed — arranged for a technical visit to Japan. We discussed [during the visit] the export requirements, and the course of negotiations was accelerated and ended with their [Japanese] agreement to receive citrus fruits from Egypt.”