The Egyptian Export of Fruits and Vegetables to UAE Tightens amid New Food and Safety Regulations

Fruits

Vegetables

United Arab Emirates

Egypt

Published Apr 19, 2022

The UAE National Food Safety Committee, part of the Ministry of Climate Change and Environment, is working on implementing a regulation that includes strict controls and standards to enhance food safety. Recently, Egypt has faced an obligation that a certificate of pesticide residues must accompany every shipment of fruit and vegetables. The regulation may affect the trade between the two countries, given that the UAE is the 4th largest importer of agricultural commodities from Egypt. Therefore, exporters will now have to comply with stricter food safety requirements. At the same time, the Egyptian government must invest in a new system of tracking farms intended for export and follow up on good agricultural practices on main exporting products, like citrus, strawberries, peppers, and guavas, to comply with the UAE import standards. The new regulation will also indirectly influence other GCC countries like Saudi Arabia, a significant trade partner to Egypt, by implementing similar measures.

Beginning April 2022, countries exporting fruit and vegetables to the UAE must provide a certification on pesticide residue for all fruit and vegetable exports. The UAE occupies a significant place in the Middle East as a gateway to trade for other Arab countries and is a notable end market due to its dependence on food imports. In recent events, the UAE has introduced an obligation that every shipment of fresh fruits and vegetables from Egypt must be accompanied by a laboratory certificate of pesticide residues, which may affect exports from Egypt.

Many countries, including the UAE, are addressing food safety issues to provide safe food for people by tightening food safety regulations. One of the factors that are a significant risk to food safety is pesticide residues or MRLs (Maximum Residue Levels). As a result, shipments must now be inspected on arrival at ports. To comply with the new standards, the Egypt Ministry of Agriculture started a new system for monitoring current export crops, focusing on farms of citrus, strawberries, peppers, and guavas. The system ensures the application of good agricultural practice and compliance with all requirements of importing countries in line with international phytosanitary measures.

Egypt is an important partner in foreign trade with the GCC (an alliance of six Middle Eastern countries), especially the UAE. The UAE is the 4th largest importer of Egyptian agricultural goods. The total value of fresh fruit and vegetable exports for MY 2020 was USD 112M. The most exported products included oranges (USD 36.04M) and potatoes (USD 19.45M). While negotiations on the terms of export regulations between the UAE and Egypt are underway, producers face additional costs of export certificates that will be transferred to either the producer or the trader. In addition, monitoring the farms' status and the diversity of production will require a lot of effort and time from the Egyptian government. Nevertheless, it is expected that Egypt's exporters will continue to face challenges with procedures and regulations until significant progress is made in reaching an agreement between the two countries.