Egypt Rejecting Meat And Bone Meal
Hot on the heels of the problems with wheat imports, it seems that the Egyptians have now got a problem with meat & bone meal imports, and a fairly sizable problem at that.
It appears that meat & bone meal shipped into Egypt must be certified "pork-free", Egypt is after all a mainly Muslim country and therefore not very pig friendly. You will recall the recent enforced mass-cull of every pig they could get their hands on held by the Christian minority following the outbreak of swine flu.
Well, large quantities of MBM shipped from South America to Egypt have all recently been impounded having tested positive for traces of pork. The Egyptians have, crucially, recently changed the way that they test for pork, but it would seem that they kind of forgot to tell anyone. MBM shipped from Argentina was certified pork-free when it left and pork-positive when it arrived.
The new method of testing, using DNA PCR analysis, is so hot it has found traces of pork in just about every consignment entering the country, causing a major headache for the South American exporters and the Egyptian buyers.
The Egyptian government are saying that this material cannot enter the food chain under any circumstances, no matter how minute the traces of "pork". Far Eastern buyers are now queuing up to take delivery of this material at knock-down prices, as shipments sit at the docks racking up huge demurrage charges.
In addition, as this material has never been customs cleared in Egypt, there is now a problem with documentation to "re-export" MBM to the Far East without the proper paperwork.
Meanwhile, the knock-on effect is that Egyptian buyers are suddenly faced with taking MBM out of the rations and replacing it with prairie meal, or something similar, with nearby prices reacting accordingly.
It appears that meat & bone meal shipped into Egypt must be certified "pork-free", Egypt is after all a mainly Muslim country and therefore not very pig friendly. You will recall the recent enforced mass-cull of every pig they could get their hands on held by the Christian minority following the outbreak of swine flu.
Well, large quantities of MBM shipped from South America to Egypt have all recently been impounded having tested positive for traces of pork. The Egyptians have, crucially, recently changed the way that they test for pork, but it would seem that they kind of forgot to tell anyone. MBM shipped from Argentina was certified pork-free when it left and pork-positive when it arrived.
The new method of testing, using DNA PCR analysis, is so hot it has found traces of pork in just about every consignment entering the country, causing a major headache for the South American exporters and the Egyptian buyers.
The Egyptian government are saying that this material cannot enter the food chain under any circumstances, no matter how minute the traces of "pork". Far Eastern buyers are now queuing up to take delivery of this material at knock-down prices, as shipments sit at the docks racking up huge demurrage charges.
In addition, as this material has never been customs cleared in Egypt, there is now a problem with documentation to "re-export" MBM to the Far East without the proper paperwork.
Meanwhile, the knock-on effect is that Egyptian buyers are suddenly faced with taking MBM out of the rations and replacing it with prairie meal, or something similar, with nearby prices reacting accordingly.