Yesterday, NAEGA provided preliminary comments to USDA FAS regarding Egypt’s request for comment on their plant quarantine regulations. In the comments, NAEGA encourages the U.S. government to provide a response to Egypt that includes the following perspectives:

The NAEGA and its Members have  been honored to be a consistent, competitive and reliable supplier of high quality, safe and affordable supplies of grains and oilseeds to provide for Egypt’s needs. 

1. We greatly respect and wish to support the Government of Egypt’s (GofE) role in providing for safe, reliable and affordable supplies of food.
2. We recognize and support the protection of plant and animal agriculture that is a critical responsibility of the entire supply chain as well as the GofE
3. We seek any opportunity, including working to address concerns and opportunities related to EGY 90 (attached) in order to continue our successful trade and investment relationship and to work with GofE on efforts to provide for safe and efficient access to supplies of wheat, corn, soybeans and other grains for import.  One way to do that is to establish regular public-private dialogue to address import policy related to plant health concerns.
4. We know that industry experience and scientific analysis can provide for a consultative partnership that is supportive of the GofE efforts to provide for food security, affordability and the  management of plant health risks by applying sound science and best practices that are all based on and compliant with internationally accepted industry protocols and the International Phytosanitary Measures established by the International Plant Protection Convention.

The NAEGA Grades and Inspections Committee has this and several other national phyto polices under active consideration. In addition to Egypt, measures by China, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam and the U.S. are being addressed.  We welcome comments and input from NAEGA members on all trade concerns.