Iraq, Egypt tighten wheat import controls

BOTH Iraq and Egypt have revised their systems to tighten wheat import controls. Under Iraq's new system to approve wheat and other imports, a Trade Ministry committee that includes the state Grain Board and another agency that imports sugar, tea and other food, and a committee reporting directly to the cabinet must both approve food purchases following competitive tenders. In the previous system food purchases, which can add up to tens or hundreds of millions of dollars, were approved by either the trade minister alone or, for bigger deals, the cabinet. Meanwhile, Egypt's main state wheat buyer, the General Authority for Supply Commodities (GASC), raised the test weight requirement for US wheat to 58.5 lb/bushel from 58 lb/bushel and its minimum protein content requirement by half a percentage point to 9.5 per cent. Egypt, the world's top wheat importer, requires a minimum protein content of 11.5 per cent for Russian wheat and 11 per cent for French wheat.Air Zoom Pegasus EM