Monday 20 May
Minister of Trade and Industry Engineer Ahmed Samir declared that the Egyptian Commercial Office in Ottawa has successfully lifted the ban on Egyptian strawberry exports to Canada.
The minister
added that the efforts of the Office played a significant role in securing the
preliminary approval from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) for
importing Egyptian strawberries.
However,
Canadian importers must obtain a permit before finalizing the import process.
Additionally, Egyptian strawberries must undergo a series of agricultural
quarantine procedures to guarantee they are pest-free.
Commercial
Attaché and Head of Trade Representation Yahya El Wathiq Billah explained that
general import requirements will be applied to Egyptian strawberry exports.
This includes the need for strawberries to be commercially produced and the
presence of a phytosanitary certificate attached to shipments exported from
Egypt, issued 14 days before export. Moreover, the export certificate must be
based on the shipment being free of pests in accordance with Canadian rules,
including soil, leaves, and plant remains. Import also requires the importing
company to obtain a permit from the Canadian agency during the trial period.
The Egyptian
Commercial Office in Ottawa highlighted that strawberry exports to Canada will
undergo a pilot phase, a standard procedure for fresh strawberry imports from
new sources entering the Canadian market.
During this
pilot phase, Canadian importers must obtain an import permit. Upon arrival in
Canada, 100% of the imported shipments will be subject to inspection by the
Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA).
The report
further stated that the results of the inspection process will be reviewed
periodically. The pilot phase will be considered complete once a sufficient
number of shipments have been inspected by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency
(CFIA), and the agency has confirmed that fresh strawberries from Egypt
consistently meet the phytosanitary requirements for importation into Canada.
Upon successful
completion of the pilot phase, the requirement for obtaining an import permit
will be eliminated. Instead, shipments of Egyptian strawberries will be subject
to the standard inspection procedures applied to all fresh strawberry imports
into Canada.
