EU lifts additional inspection requirement for Egyptian strawberries

EU lifts additional inspection requirement for Egyptian strawberries: The EU Health and Food Safety Commissioner has agreed to remove Egyptian strawberries from its list of high-risk crops and cancel its requirement for additional inspections, Agriculture Export Council head Abdel Hamid El Demerdash said, Youm7 reports. The commissioner had noted in March that Egyptian strawberries and peppers had improved in quality and begun meeting European food safety regulations in 2H2017. Imports of Egypt’s strawberries were banned by several countries — including Saudi Arabia — over high levels of residual pesticides. The Agriculture Ministry has since moved to impose more stringent inspection measures on agricultural product exports.