Saudi Arabia temporarily bans imports of Egyptian guavas: Saudi Arabia issued yesterday a temporary ban on imports of fresh Egyptian guavas over concerns of high levels of residual pesticides, according to the Saudi Press Agency. The ban was issued after test results proved that shipments of Egyptian guavas contained “pesticide residues at a rate higher than the internationally recognized permitted limit.” It remains unclear when the ban will come into effect. Saudi Arabia had banned Egyptian peppers last December — prompting the UAE and Kuwait to follow suit — and then slapped a separate ban on Egyptian strawberries in July, after both products were found to contain high levels of residual pesticides. The Agriculture Ministry had previously moved to impose stricter regulations on exports to the GCC after the successive bans, and said in July that Egyptian guava exports would be subjected to Global Good Agricultural Practices standards as of this season.

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