CAIRO — On Sept. 21, the Egyptian Cabinet decided to authorize the import of ergot-infected wheat in accordance with Egyptian regulations adopted in 2010 that permit the import of wheat containing levels of .05% of ergot or lower. This negated a prior decision taken in late August, when the Ministry of Agriculture announced that it was imposing a zero-tolerance policy for ergot, banning the import of wheat containing any quantity of the fungus.

The Cabinet said it would not permit the import of wheat containing ergot levels exceeding those allowed for by Egypt’s 2010 guidelines. They noted that these guidelines were in line with standards determined by international agencies specializing in the field — such as the Codex Alimantarius and the Food and Agriculture Organization. They also said that fears concerning ergot — such as that imported wheat containing ergot was carcinogenic and harmful to public health — was utterly without foundation.

Nadir Nur al-Din, a professor at the College of Agriculture at Cairo University and an adviser to the former minister of supply at the General Authority for Supply Commodities (GASC), criticized the Egyptian government’s decision to import wheat containing even trace amounts of ergot.

Nur al-Din told Al-Monitor that Egypt had never imported wheat containing ergot throughout its history. “The government is claiming that a law from 2010 exists that authorizes it,” he said, “yet if that’s true, why did the minister of supply decide to issue his decision last July under pressure from former Minister of Supply Khalid Hanafy to permit the import of wheat meeting the .05% standard, only to renege at the end of August. [Originally,] he decided that imported wheat had to be completely free of ergot.”