MOSCOW (Reuters) – Egypt has approved a Russian wheat cargo, which was halted by Cairo last week, after a second test showed it did not contain high levels of the grain fungus ergot, Russia’s state Grain Quality Service said on Monday.
A farmer displays wheat grains at a field in the Beheira Governorate, Egypt May 3, 2018. REUTERS/Mohamed Abd El Ghany/File Photo
The second test showed the cargo contained 0.01 percent levels of ergot — below the 0.05 percent limit enforced by Egypt — compared with 0.06 percent in an initial test, it said in a statement.
Egypt, the world’s largest wheat importer, halted the entry of a 63,000-tonne Russian wheat cargo last Thursday, but port officials told Reuters on Sunday that the results of a second test indicated ergot levels fell within acceptable limits.
Reporting by Polina Devitt; writing by Tom Balmforth; editing by Jason Neely