CAIRO: The United Arab Emirates announced a ban on imports of milk and cheese products from Egypt on Tuesday, citing "health concerns, the local press reported. This decision comes on the heels of a March ban on the import of all cloven-hoofed animals and animal products from Egypt due to concerns about the transmission of foot and mouth disease from infected imported food products. The UAE banned the import of animals and animal products from Lebanon, China and Taiwan in late February for similar reasons. Foot and mouth disease is a highly contagious viral disease that afflicts cloven-hoofed animals. While humans are rarely affected, recent outbreaks have caused concern about the disease's transmission to humans through contact with infected animals or animal products. Although Egypt's exports of meat are negligible, annual dairy exports are worth LE 2.8 billion, with LE 35 million in revenue coming from exports to the UAE, Reuters reported Tuesday. "LE 35 million does not constitute a large part of Egypt's economy, so the ban won't have a serious effect, said Magdy Sobhy, an economics expert at the Al-Ahram Center for Strategic Studies. "Actually, Egypt is a net importer of dairy products, so there's plenty of demand for these products at home if the UAE ban continues, he added. The UAE also banned the import of pork products at the end of April due to fears about the recent international outbreak of swine flu. This ban comes despite statements issued by the World Health Organization asserting that swine flu cannot be transmitted to humans by live pigs or pork products and instead is being passed from human to human. Reuters quoted the chairman of Egypt's Chamber of Food Industries, Tarek Tawfik, saying that the ban might have simply been a misunderstanding of the earlier ban on animal products, and that he hoped the issue could be resolved through talks between the ministers of agriculture and trade in both countries. The Ministry of Trade and Industry could not be reached for comment.
