Russian authorities ban two shipments of Egyptian potatoes, claiming contamination

Russia’s agricultural quarantine authorities flagged two potato shipments from Egypt, alleging that they were contaminated with potato brown rot, Agriculture Export Council head Abdel Hamid El Demerdash said, according to Youm7. The Trade and Industry Ministry confirmed the move but assured that this was not a blanket ban on potato exports to Russia and that the ban was limited to the two regions where the shipments originated, Al Shorouk reports. The Agriculture Ministry came out with a statement saying it would investigate the farms where the shipments came from and warned it may ban those exporters from exporting, according to Al Mal.