|
INCREASING EGYPTIAN POTATO EXPORTS
TO THE EU
CONFERENCE DISCUSSES EU SUPPORT TO EGYPTIAN POTATO PEST
FREE AREAS
H.E. Dr. Ahmed El Leithy, Minister of Agriculture, and
H.E. Dr. Klaus Ebermann, Ambassador of the Delegation of
the European Commission in Egypt, as well as
representatives from the Ministry of Foreign Trade and
Industry, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the
Ministry of International Co-operation, will inaugurate
a one-day conference entitled “EU Support to Egyptian
Pest Free Exports of Potatoes”. The conference will take
place on 23rd November at 9:30 a.m. at the Four Seasons
Nile Plaza hotel in Garden City and will focus on the
EU-Egypt Potato Brown Rot Project and the functioning of
the EU Import Mechanism.
The seminar will cover the European Commission support
to the Potato Brown Rot Project at the Ministry of
Agriculture, the achievements made, as well as
outstanding issues related to control and monitoring of
the brown rot disease. The Project Director, Dr. Safwat
El Haddad, will further explain the views of the
Egyptian producers and exporters on this matter.
The European Commission has been supporting the Potato
Brown Rot project since 1998 with a total of €2.6
million (EGP 18.2 million). The contribution of the
Ministry of Agriculture to the project is around €2
million (EGP 14 million). Under this project, the
European Commission has supplied the equipment of a
laboratory, a research greenhouse and national and
international training on the symptoms, spreading and
monitoring of brown rot disease. A highly sophisticated
traceability system to control the production and export
of potatoes to the EU is also being implemented.
Awareness of the disease by all partners involved is
being carried out through a special extension service
programme.
In the second half of the seminar, the functioning of
the EU Import Mechanism will be explained. An
introduction on the trade policy aspects of EU-Egypt
potato trade will be given by Mr. Michele Villani from
the Trade Directorate General of the European Commission
in Brussels. Another presentation on the EU import
system and the brown rot derogation will be given by Mr.
Jim Howie from the Consumer and Health Protection
Services of the European Commission in Brussels.
An interesting exchange of views is expected with
Egyptian producers and exporters of potatoes, as well as
with the representatives of the respective Egyptian
ministries and other organisations relevant to the topic
who have been invited to the Conference.
In recent years, Egypt has managed to export increasing
quantities of potatoes to the EU, reaching a significant
total of 240,000 tonnes during the 2004/2005 season.
Based on this success, the EU Member States recently
gave the go-ahead to the European Commission to
authorise imports of Egyptian potatoes to the EU for the
next year’s export season 2005/2006, which will start
before the end of this year and will finish in early
spring 2006.
ENDS
Contact: Germaine Demian
Press and Information Officer
Delegation of the European Commission in Egypt
Tel:3749 46 80
germaine.demian@cec.eu.int |
