Egypt's fresh strawberries exports reached 22,400 tonnes during the period from January 1 to March 16, and are being shipped and exported, Head of the Central Department of Agricultural Quarantine at Ministry of Agriculture Ahmed al-Attar said. Attar added that all exports of fresh strawberries are subject to all the procedures and requirements of quarantine, adding that the procedures for exports of agricultural products, especially for vegetables and fruits, are continually stressed to be enforced in all markets of the world. Head of the Central Department of Horticulture and Agricultural Crops at Agriculture Ministry Mahmoud Atta said since the beginning of the season of strawberry exports, there has been a mandate for all technical committees to follow up the state of the strawberry crop in various governorates, within the plan of the ministry to increase exports of strawberries as one of the most popular agricultural exports. The Agriculture Ministry, represented by the Central Administration of Agricultural Quarantine, continues to expand the opening of new markets within the framework of the efforts to increase agricultural exports in accordance with international export quality standards, and to apply export traceability systems during the stages of agriculture, production, packaging and exportation. In April, Saudi Food and Drug Authority (SFDA) lifted the ban on exports of Egyptian strawberries and peppers to Saudi Arabia, after the implementation of the new system in accordance with the European requirements and the approved limits for pesticide residues and Codex standards, raising the quality of Egyptian agricultural products, whether for domestic consumption or export. Previously, Attar said that 2018 witnessed a boom in the export of Egyptian agricultural products which exceeded 5.2 million tons and 2019 is expected to witness further increase thanks to the cooperation between the Agriculture Ministry and relevant ministries as well as the Export Council for Agricultural Crops. Attar added that the Egyptian agricultural exports during 2018 saw an increase of 500,000 tons compared to the previous year. Egypt's agricultural exports recorded about $1.2 billion during 2017/2018, according to Chairman of Export Council of Agricultural Crops and Member of the House of Representatives Abdel Hamid Demerdash. Source: Egypt Today
