Egypt sent 21 technical questions regarding the E. Coli crisis to the European Union (EU) after a national committee formed to address the issue approved the inquiries, said Ali Suleiman, central administration chairman of the agricultural quarantine in the Ministry of Agriculture. The Egyptian government demands clear answers from EU states – members who decided to ban imports of Egyptian seeds several weeks ago, he added. In addition to other questions, the committee particularly demands to know why the European commission refused to recognize the Egyptian scientific analysis of fenugreek seeds, when it authorized the Spanish analysis results confirming that the cucumbers imported from Spain were not infected with E. coli. An Egyptian delegation representing the Ministries of Trade, Industry, Agriculture and Health will travel to Geneva to hold a meeting with EU representatives and the World Health Organization (WHO) to hash out the different positions of each organization. At a meeting yesterday, the national committee on the E. coli crisis called the EU's ban on Egyptian products and seeds, a decision in effect until next October, arbitrary. The EU's ban is based on research conducted in one research institute, after three French citizens were allegedly infected by Egyptian fenugreek infected with E. coli, said Suleiman. An official in the Ministry of Agriculture emphasized that the Egyptian conclusions on the E. coli bacteria were scientifically sound.
