The Agriculture Ministry is expected to launch a new smart card system for farmers in a bid to tighten controls over exported produce, Deputy Minister Safwat Al Haddad tells Al Borsa. The new system will aim to keep better track of shipments earmarked for exports. Exporting farmers will be required to register for a number that will serve as an identifier for their products. The move is the latest in a series of regulations the Agriculture Ministry has issued in its efforts to enforce stricter quality control measures on exports, after a number of Arab countries, including KSA, Kuwait, and the UAE to impose temporary blanket bans on imports of Egyptian agricultural products on grounds of them containing high levels of residual pesticides. Most recently, Russian authorities flagged two Egyptian potato shipments alleging they were contaminated.

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